En Garde! Pretz? Allez! A Fencer in Xenoblade Chronicles
by Palaiogos
Summary: What happens when an fencer, who's also a archer, goes into the world of Xenoblade Chronicles? He also does not remember how he got there, or anything about the universe he is in. Half novelization, and half SI it has elements from other places, and some romance later in the story. Rated T for violence and language. Warning: Rating Might Change
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Colony 9

 **(A/N): This is my first fanfiction. Please don't flame, but comment constructively in the review. Also, this is first-person limited perspective (this game is hard to write in first-person limited)**

The sun washes over my eyes. The grass is both long and itchy. _This is not my bed_ , I think, trying to remember why I am in the middle of a field.

A voice stirs me: "A Mechon M71! I can use its optical system to align one of the anti-air batteries."

 _Anti-air batteries? Am I in a military base? I remember sleeping in a bed near my girlfriend in a lab._

I hear a clang, "No good. It's broken." He picks up another piece, "The joint section, it's buckled."

 _So, I am in a scrapyard of some sorts._ Seems obvious, I see that there are a lot of parts everywhere. I also sat up, gaining the attention of the short man, my age, with blonde hair.

"Who are you?" he asks.

"Want to help me up first?" I ask.

He helps me up. "My name is Augustine."

"Mine is Shulk, want to help me find something?"

"Ok."

He walks in a direction and lays on the ground. Apparently something caught his eye.

"An M69!"

"What is that?" I inquire.

"You'll see, here pick up that sword right next to you, and that bow."

"What-?"

I look behind me and see a very elegant raper. Not more than one and one-half inch in width, it is both suited for thrusting and slashing. The rapier, is about four feet in length, which included the guard, and a pommel. The grip is of the Italian style, and it had a cup hilt. Picking it up, in my normal fencing grip, I also saw that I had a scabbard which matched it on the side of the left side of my body. I also pick up the bow, which had no arrows, even though I had a quiver on my back.

 _What is this place, and why do I have this?_ , I ask myself. While I was looking over the sword, apparently Shulk is thinking on what he will do, when he gets the shield off.

"Its armour would be perfect for making a shield. If I get it off, I should be able to do..."

My mouth falls wide open when the shield flipped over and scuttled. Suddenly, a man with flaming red hair runs, takes off his shield-sword ( _what is that thing_ ), and hit the monster right on the head.

"Reyn, it's not a Mechon, it's a krabble! It was using the Mechon armor as a shield."

"I'll lure it away and topple it, you two lure it away and topple it. Anyway, who's this guy?"

"Right" I say.

I lunge at the krabble which makes it bleed. I retreat. The animal's animosity centers on me. While charging at me, I counter-attack, moving out of the way and sticking the sword out, while Shulk turn-strikes it, and lastly, while broken, Reyn topples it. Shulk, lastly, slashes the krabble from the back. The three of us look over the body.

"Thanks Augustine and Reyn! That was close." Shulk says.

"Man, what are you two doing wandering away from the Colony. Stay where I can keep an eye on you. It's pretty dangerous outside of the colony. There are all kinds of monsters outside the colony."

"Shulk, what is this place?"

"Hoo boy! What is this place?! That's the biggest whopper I've ever heard! That's even larger than that time when Fiora-" Reyn chortled.

"Reyn!" Shulk scolded. "Anyway, thanks to you two, we got the shield! Everyone in the colony is going to be really happy!"

"I'm more worried about you than the shell. Ah...whatever. Knowing what you're like, at least you'll make a decent weapon out of it. This Scrap Driver's excellent."

"Shulk, you make weapons? Any improvements that you can make on my rapier?" I ask.

"Let me first see the weapon, then let's go to the lab so that I can do some touch-ups." Shulk replies.

"Anyway, how did you learn how to make weapons?"

"I just saw Dickson make weapons, and I copied him." Shulk answers.

"Any weapons that I can get?" I ask.

"'Course, there's the weapon that Dunban wields. It is called the Monado!" Reyn answers.

"The Monado, what is that?" I ask.

"The Monado…I hope I can figure out the secret of its power one day." Shulk deadpans.

"Um, hello! Augustine, new guy! What is this place? Why am I here? Why do you call it a colony, where did you guys come from?"

"Oh, both Reyn and I will tell you a brief history of what this is." Shulk uttered. "Long ago, the world was nothing more than an endless sea, cloaked in a boundless sky, reaching as far as could possibly be imagined. Two great titans came into existence, the Bionis and the Mechonis. The two titans were locked in a timeless battle, until at last…only their lifeless corpses remained. Eons have pa-"

"Remember, Bionis is good and what we are living on, and Mechonis is bad!"

"Yes Reyn, thanks for the elaboration. Anyway, are under attack from a relentless force known as the Mechon. My mentor, Dunban, held the Mechon back, using the Monado. The sword that you want to use."

"Cool! Can I use it now?" I demanded. "Just kidding.", I added after Shulk looked taken aback.

"Anyway, we need to go back and stop at the Weapon Development Lab, as this shield can't build itself. Let's get the both of you down there." Shulk declared. "Reyn needs to get back to the colonel, as he will be get extremely mad if he does not go back to the drill square."

The three of us walked down to the Colony, where Shulk and Reyn said their goodbyes to each other.

"Well, I'm tagging along with you Shulk." I said.

He smiled, "Yes, you are lost right?"

"Yes, I remember where I am from, but not how I got here."

"You know what, let me educate you on what this place is. This is Colony 9, the main city of the Homs. You, I'm assuming, are a Homs, as you are not a Nopon."

"What is a Nopon?"

"You'll see them in about a little bit."

The two of us walk into the Commercial District, where Shulk said is the beating heart of the colony. _Wow, this is the largest Commercial District I have ever seen in a little town._ People are everywhere, as we walk. Wow, this is almost as packed as Fifth Avenue. _How are there so many people in such a small place?_

"Shulk, what is the population of the place?" I request.

"I am not sure. Why do you want to know how many people there are in the Colony?"

"This place is almost as packed as one of the biggest cities. I almost can remember where I am from."

"That's sad" he agreed.

I walk and see a little blue creature, it looks like a blueberry with two little arms, and wings that can lift it up.

"Shulk, what is that?"

"That's a Nopon, but let's stop ogling at them, we need to go and stop at the Military District."

Setting out for the Military District, we say hello to the Gem Man.

"Shulk, what does the Gem Man do? He looks interesting."

"We can go and ask him if you want."

"So, what do you do?" I ask, walking up to the gem man.

"Now, these gems are incredible! These things make you stronger, have better reflexes, and even make you take more hits before you die!"

"Wow, they are incredible!"

Shulk smiles in the side, while I ask the man how to create these gems.

"You can't! The refinery is broken."

I tsked, annoyed, and then walked with Shulk, while laughing.

"Ha ha. I probably should have told you that the refinery is broken. Also, he gave us three gems, and told us that we could have them." Shulk said.

"Anyway, on to the Military District. Maybe I can find out where I'm from."

"Exactly, Augustine."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II:

Shulk and I walk into the Military District, and right there and then we're greeted by the welcoming shouting of a drill sergeant.

"You idiots! What the hell are you playing at?!" A man with a handlebar moustache, and who is even taller than Reyn shouts.

"Uh-oh, the colonel's gonna explode." Shulk says to me.

"Wow, he has a temper." I reply.

"Crashing the mobile artillery into a house?!" He says exclaims a glare to one of the soldiers. "How long have you been in the force?" The colonel continues.

"Sorry, sir. I-it's just that we were trying to go as fast as we could, like you ordered..." One of the soldiers stammers.

"But it's impossible to get back to the Military District in only 40 seconds." The other soldier says, apparently trying to be brave.

"I don't want ANY excuses!" Champions don't whine, they win!"

"Yes, sir"

"You're a disgrace to the uniform! Are you forgetting the shame you brought on this force during joint manoeuvres with Colony 6?! Stick your back into it maggots! Move it!"

"Yes, sir."

"Get the artillery back to the Military District, double time! Then I want a million press-ups from both of you! And you better not stop until your biceps explode!"

"Colonel. We can't move the artillery." One of the soldiers coughs up.

"What? You'd give a damn good reason why!"

"Sir! The impact of the crash damaged the ether conduction cable! The ether fuel proceeded to leak out and now the cylinder is empty!" The other soldier says.

"Well, change the cylinder then! Can't you even do something as simple as that?!"

"The auxiliary cylinders have all been used up. It'll be three days until more come in, Sir."

"I told you two to keep a stock of fuel in reserve!"

"Sorry, Sir..."

"You're nothing but slackers!"

The both of us wince when the Colonel punched one of them in the face, and then nudged the other.

"Wow. The men are all going to be dead before they see action if this keeps up." Shulk whispers to me.

"Yes, I've never seen any colonel who has hit his men like that." I respond.

We walk to into the Military Lab, where I see another Nopon. He asks us if we are to collect some materials, and we of course say yes. The Military Lab is a very small room with a lot of metal. It also has one table, and on it is a man with long hair, with a red bandanna perched on his head. If he had an eyepatch, I actually would think he would be a pirate. Apparently, though, Shulk and he are friends, actually scratch that, they more act like father and son.

"All right, Shulk. How are you? Who's this guy?"

"Dickson! When did you get back to Colony 9? This guy is Augustine, and he apparently has lost his memory and does not know where he's from." Shulk greets jovially.

"Amnesiac. That isn't good."

"Yeah, the only memory that I have is staying in my room, but I don't remember the date nor do I remember where." I replies.

"Anyway, when did you get back to Colony 9?" Shulk inquire.

"Just now. I see that you are very busy with the research." Dickson replies, smiling.

"Research? Do you think I could join? Maybe it can reignite my memory, as one of the other things that I remember is that I was an engineer. I probably did a lot of research back when I was an engineer."

"Hmm. If you are an amnesiac, then how do you remember a lot of the technicalities of research?" Dickson wonders.

"I think I'll be able to remember well enough." I reply.

"Hope ya can read all this and understand it." Dickson chortled, picking up a large stack of papers with drawings. I take a quick peak at them and see that it is of the sword that is in the middle of the room.

"That's the Monado, correct?" I ask, looking at it with awe.

The Monado is a red sword that looks two-handed. It looks incredibly heavy and cumbersome, unlike a rapier. _Why would anyone ever use a sword like that? It looks incredibly cumbersome, and it looks weird._ _The rapier is a very-_

"Yes, that is the Monado. I can activate it, even though no one can control it." Shulk answered.

"Yes, if anyone other than Dunban were able to control the Monado, we could easily surpass any military force in the world." Dickson said, reading the paper. "Talking about the Monado, what are these hidden functions that you mention?"

"It's still only conjecture, but it's starting to look like the Monado might be something far more significant than just a weapon for defeating Mechon." Shulk answer.

"What's the evidence." Dickson and I ask.

"You can't have any scientific discoveries without evidence." I add.

"Well, seems like someone wrote a lot of papers." Shulk dead pan.

"Ha ha." Dickson and I chortle.

"The evidence is in the symbol that appears in the centre when it's activated. Now, when someone activates the Monado, there is a piece of glass in the little circle. That is made from multilayered glass. The symbol appears on the top layer, and each layer is constructed differently."

"So it's possible that other symbols could appear on different layers?" Dickson asked.

I look interested at the man, because something was not right about him. He just seems to be concealing a lot of his knowledge, with his face. _Why is he scrunching up his eyes? This is an interesting development._

"Which means..." Shulk continues

"The Monado might conceal even more power." Dickson leans in, and he does a big reveal moment like in those really bad mystery movies that show you the obvious.

"If we could just unlock the Monado's power..." Shulk answered. "Dunban..." he thought aloud.

"Who is this Dunban?" I inquire.

"Only the greatest fighter in all of the colonies." Dickson answered with a smile. "He fought beside me at Sword Valley. There is no way you could have stopped that beast. Do you want me to tell you all about him?"

"Yeah, Dunban's pretty awesome. I feel sad that he lost all his movement in his right arm. That is because of the Monado, one year earlier." Shulk said, sadly.

"That sword conceals a lot of power to stop a beast." I laugh.

"Yes, he's also one of the funniest men out there." Dickson says.

"I would love to meet him." I reply.

"And the best swordsman in the colony. Only two people have ever matched him. You, and one of his other friends." Shulk says "with his other friends" sadly, like one of them has died. "Oh, Augustine, you should schedule a match-up with him. I've seen how you fight and it is incredibly interesting. The way you just dance with the blade. I would love to see who has the better style." He looks up at me interested. "Anyway, I should see you, Dickson, later. Augustine, do you want to go to Outlook Park with me?"

"Of course. See you later Dickson."

"See you two later too, I'll tell you the story of Dunban and Sword Valley once I get these supplies dropped off."

The two of us walk out when I ask him, "So, how do you get money in this place?"

"Oh, money. We call it gold here, but some of the Nopon insist on saying, 'More money for me!' in their incredibly high voice.'" We both laugh at this statement. "Anyway, remember the people who ask you to do all the things like kill Verdant Bluchal, or kill Evil Rhangrot? Those people, for their thanks, drop money off at the lab. I use it to buy my supplies whenever I go hunting."

"Talking about supplies, can we go to the Commercial District to go and buy my arrows? I am right out of them, or more like, I haven't got any of them in the first place."

"Okay, let's drop by the Commercial District and get your arrows."

The two of us walk by the Commercial District, watching out for one of the stalls where they sell weapons. The two of us go there, and ask for twenty arrows. The man says that we can have all of his arrows for free, as no one uses bows in Colony 9. People either use ether rifles, swords, or drivers.

"What are drivers?" I question, as I have never seen a driver in my life before.

"Ever see a Defence Force Soldier?"

I nod my head.

"Drivers are those shields that they strap on their right arms." The man answers.

"Reyn has one, if we are to see him again, but I have a feeling that he's probably on punishment duty today after saving us in the scrap yard."

 _Thank him for saving our arses,_ I think.

The two of us walk into the rest of the Colony, where the Residential District is, and Shulk shows me around. He says that he does not have a house in the Residential District, as he either sleeps in the lab or Dickson's house. He also points me around the places in the Colony.

"Do you see that place, up on the hill? That's Outlook Park, it's the only park in the colony, only problem is that the anti-air batteries don't have the angles to hit debris that are falling over that area. To the right of it, up that hill is Tephra Cave. Inside there is the Mag Mell Ruins, which I am sure Reyn would spend a lifetime talking to you about. He loves it there. Behind the bridge, to the right of the Military District" He pulls out a map and points, "is called Agora Shore. Don't go there unless you have a death wish. There are a lot of crazy monsters there."

"Sounds like a nice place." I say, sarcastically.

"Okay, let's walk to Outlook Park, where the best view in the Colony is."

The two of us trek through the Residential District, and through the bridge that connects Colony 9 to the shore where Tephra Hill is. We take a right at the fork, and walk up the hundred or so steps to the top of Outlook Park.

"Wow, I love the view." I say.

"Yes, it's a pretty nice view, if I would say myself." Shulk replies.

He sits down on one of the benches and beckons me.

"So, I'm to tell you more about the Monado because you asked if you could do research on it too. It is the only sword that can damage the Mechon armour, and is also the sword of the Bionis."

"You mean, the little sword that is in the lab was wielded by the thing we live on?"

"Yes, it must have a secret, that's why Dunban was able to destroy so many Mechon, and the reason why he lost the use of his right arm."

Suddenly a woman, or should I say girl, of about 18 years comes through. She has blonde hair and green eyes, and has a fairly high-pitched voice. I turn around.

"Shulk!" the woman shouts, fairly excited to see him. Apparently she also has a pack of food with her.

 _Does Shulk already have a wife?,_ I think to myself.

"Fiora!" Shulk replies.

She comes down, sits right next to him and hands him a sandwich.

"So, who's this?" she asks, flashing her eyes at me.

"Oh, he's Augustine. He's someone I found in the Mechon Scrapyard. He also is helping me with the Monado research."

Shulk chews the sandwich that Fiora gave him.

"This is great! It tastes to good!"

"Really?"

"It's amazing!"

"Oh, Shulk, you say that every day."

I laugh extremely hard, as she glares at me. I silence almost immediately, while Shulk starts to laugh too.

"Anyway, it's delicious every day, but today it's amazing."

"Thank goodness." She sighs, "I used some special herbs and spices today, so if you said it was just the same as usual, I'd know for sure you had no sense of taste." Fiora continues.

 _Wow, she acts just like my girlfriend. Except, my girlfriend probably would have kissed me if she saw me right now, then again, she always looks for excuses to do that,_ I think.

"The breeze feels so good." Fiora comments.

 _How much shall I bet Shulk that today is going to be jinxed?_ I think, and laughing in my head because of my comment.

"Yes, I've forgotten what it feels like because I have never thought that it could be so quiet here." Shulk agreed.

"You're spending too much time with Reyn. You're getting used to all of the noise he makes." Fiora added.

"Yes, it is fairly quiet here too." I added.

"I hope that every day will be like this. It is so peaceful." Fiora said, sighing.

When this happened, there is a siren that rang.

"Strange. There hasn't been much falling lately." Fiora said, slightly nervous.

"What is that siren for?" I ask.

"It is the debris siren, I'll explain it to you, and the other sirens, when we go back to the Colony. The Anti-Aircraft Battery is not able to protect you if you stand in Outlook Park. It does not have the angle to cover Outlook Park. Only the Colony, and a little bit of the surrounding area." Shulk replies.

"So, now that we're going back to Colony 9, wanna kill some skeeters?" I ask, to keep the group's spirit up.

"Okay, there are some new knives I would love to get." Fiora replied.

After killing two skeeters, where Fiora shows her tricks, we head back to the Military District.

"So, Fiora, where did you learn how to fight like that?" I ask.

"The three of us; Shulk, Reyn, and I were all taught by Dunban, who's my older brother." Fiora answered.

 _So Dunban is the mentor of the three of them, I can't wait to meet him. He sounds interesting, and I can't wait to find out that story that Dickson is going to tell when we get back._ The three of us then walk into the Military District.

"Shulk, I wonder what the Colonel is doing again." Fiora said.

"I hope that the Colonel doesn't make everyone do his press-up challenge." Shulk dead-panned.

"I wonder what that is?" I ask sarcastically.

"Oh, it's the challenge where you do press-ups until your biceps explode!" He said the last phrase with quotes.

The three of us laugh as Shulk tells us what happens when we walked through the first time, as he recounts what happened when we went through the Military District earlier that morning.

"Say, what time did you find me in the Mechon Scrapyard?" I ask, with a my finger on my mouth in a thinking pose.

"Oh, about 6:00. That's the earliest that I've ever gone to the Scrapyard."

"Well Shulk, you always go to the scrapyard anyway." Fiora teased.

The three of us laugh until we go to the Military District, where Reyn is holding the Monado.

"Reyn! What are you doing here?! Put the Monado down!"

"Shulk?! Don't worry I'm just..."

Right when he says that phrase, the Monado glows blue, and then the front part slits, where a blue light goes out of the blade, like a lightsabre from Star Wars. _Wow, a real lightsabre, I never thought I would ever see this in my life. This is so awesome!_

Apparently, while having the thought, Reyn is trashing the entirety of the lab. He seems like he is being led by the Monado, while Fiora hides behind one of the metal pieces of equipment. Reyn, unsuccessfully does his best to control the sword, but it leads around, like a dance partner. Suddenly, Reyn turns on to me, and I try to dodge, but the sword hits me on the leg. It bounces off, but cuts me very slightly. It rebounds, and cuts through the metal piece that Fiora is hiding behind, and bounces off of her, which makes Reyn lose his grip and drop the Monado to the floor.

"Augustine, the Monado can't cut Homs..." Shulk said, his eyes narrowing. "Anyway, Fiora, Augustine, are both of you okay?"

"I'm fine." Fiora says.

"Um, I'm bleeding right here." I deadpan.

Shulk gets me a band-aid while he berates Reyn.

"What were you thinking, Reyn?!"

"Sorry. I came to ask you a favour. But you weren't here, and I saw the Monado and..."

I put the band-aid on, and stopped the bleeding

"I know I'm here a lot, but even I need some fresh air sometimes." Shulk says. "Is your body still feeing numb?" Shulk says, eyes narrowing. "We have to be very careful with the Monado, it is not a toy."

"I know man. I just wanted to touch it, I didn't know that it would do that. Sorry, but is it really true that the Monado can't cut people?"

"Well, I thought that it can't cut people, until Augustine here got cut, but it's weird how it bounced off Fiora. The pattern in that circle...or maybe it is a symbol."

Shulk then picks up the Monado to put it back on the centrepiece in the middle of the room. "You think that's a symbol?"

"Well, if I you can increase the number of symbols, I should..."

"I'm sure that's very clever, but why are you more concerned about a machine than me?" Fiora advances on Shulk, eyeing him.

"I just said the reason..."

"Well, can you explain why Augustine got help?" Fiora advances on Shulk again.

Shulk backs up and accidentally bangs the Monado on the centrepiece, and activates like the last time. I pass out immediately.

 _What is happening?_

 _"Faber est suae quisque fortunae!" a male disjointed voice says. In the foreground a person is wielding a driver against a huge machine._

 _"No, CHRISTINE!" a voice, that sounds mysteriously like mine says, while in the background, a man all lord like, appears with a thin sword._

 _"… until I scrap each and every one of you!" a woman shouts, while a woman with a rifle shoots in slow motion._

 _"NO!" a voice that strangely sounds like Shulk shouts._

Suddenly, I wake up from my torpor, or stupor, or whatever the medical term is for passing out is.

"Are either of you two hurt?" Fiora asked, concerned with the both of us.

"No, we're okay. Reyn, when you held the Monado, did you see anything?"

"Y'know… like a blue blade made out of light appeared, same as it did now."

"I mean, did you have a feeling, like time had stopped, and you see a bunch of people that you have never met before, and here voices, and..." my voice trails off, uncertain of what to think about this. I wonder if these people think I am crazy, as I get found in a scrapyard, the only things I remember are my name, snapshots of where I come from, a woman, and-

"Exactly. I saw that too." Shulk says, interrupting my thoughts.

"That's strange. Maybe it's another Monado thing." Fiora adds.

"Who knows, and who cares? I mean, who cares if a sword is that good if that's what happens when you hold it… Looks like Dunban's the only one who can use it." Reyn finally remark.

"Anyway, no matter how interesting of a phenomenon this is, we're both fine. To be honest, this has happened a few times before when I was researching the Monado. And, I've researched the Monado for a very long time." Shulk replies.

"I don't know what's happening, but since Shulk is the foremost expert on the sword, then I should be inclined to agree with him." I add.

"So, Reyn, what did you want to ask me about?" Shulk asks Reyn in a friendly tone.

"Oh yeah, Old Square-tache, has gone and put me on punishment duty. Fancy tagging along?"

"Punishment? The colonel was pretty angry today, did he hit you?"

"Well, whether he hit me is neither here nor there, really… Although actually he did end up hitting me. And that ain't all. He made me do a thousand squats and sit-ups."

"Whoa, nasty"

"Sucks for you, man." I add.

"Anyway, I have to go to the Mag Mell Ruins and back."

"So you have to go and collect the ether cylinders."

"That's the one Shulk! They're the things that power the mobile artillery. It looks like the damage has been repaired, but it can't move without ether, and the fuelling station is right out of ether."

"That's the big thing that crashed in the Residential District." Fiora chirps.

"Okay, I'll go with you." Shulk decides.

"Me too, but I first want Dickson to tell his story about the Battle of Sword Valley." I say.

"We'll see him on the way, Augustine."

"Hold on. The Mag Mell ruins are in Tephra cave, right? I heard that there's a Mell Lizard nest there. I couldn't take it if anything happened to Shulk. He's delicate – not like you, Reyn, or Augustine, hearing about his earlier exploits." Fiora said, concernedly.

"What are you on about?" Reyn asks.

"We'll be fine." I say.

"But..." Fiora squeaks.

"Okay, I got it. I'll make you a promise. Shulk won't even get a scratch." Reyn says, smiling.

"A promise doesn't mean much coming from you!" Fiora says heatedly.

 _Oh, roasted BOY!._ Apparently my immature nineteen-year old mind thinks on the spot, as Fiora walks out and stands by the door to come into the lab.

"She don't trust me at all." Reyn says, sullenly.

"Nah, she doesn't mean it." replies Shulk with a smile.

"Let's see if Dickson can talk about the Battle of Sword Valley." I say.

After asking Fiora if she would come, the three of us meet Dickson at the entrance to the Military District.

"So, boys. You know half of the story, but you want to hear the real story?" The three of us nod our heads excitedly.

It was a desolate field on the sword of the Mechonis. Hundreds of Mechon were attacking our right flank. I heard the soldiers screaming retreat as the new wave moved up. It was a sight that I hope you three will never see, as soldiers who tripped and fell were promptly kill-no eaten by the Mechon. Dunban, Mumkhar, and I, the last of the rear guard needed to get up to the killing ground so that we could turn back the tide of the Mechon.

"They're advancing down our weak right flank. For a bunch of soulless machines, they seem to know a thing or two. But we'll see." Dunban said.

The three of us then hid behind a vehicle, a broken mobile artillery. It's still there to this day.

"Dunban! We've been given the order to retreat! We're pulling back the line to Colony 6. That's where we'll set up the last line of defence." I said, trying to talk sense into the man.

"Yeah. That's a good idea. Any more time spent hanging around here and we're done for." He replies with a smirk.

"Count me in! We've gotta get outta here." Mumkhar replies.

Mumkhar was never a loyal man, but he was a friend, and friends never give up on friends, until this day.

"Or we can stay and fight?" Dunban replies to both of us, with a grin.

"What?!" Mumkhar shouts, slightly enraged.

"We may die if we take a stand here, but staying gives us the chance to change our destinies. Remember, we have the Monado." Dunban said, while he took up his sword. "With this, the future is ours for the taking."

"Stupid beast! Your body can't take any more of the Monado. I can tell by just looking at you." I say.

"Getting short sighted in your old age, Dickson? I'm fine, don't worry, I'm still in control."

"I should have known I couldn't talk sense into a beast. Let's do this. I'm going with you! You'll need someone to drag your corpse home."

"As long as you think you've still got the strength in you, old man!"

"Oi, you two! We've been ordered to pull back! I'm leaving!" Mumkhar pipes up.

"Well you're coming with us! What would we do without those?" Dunban answers, wryly.

Mumkhar was one of the best fighters in the colony. He could also wield the Monado, but over the sword he preferred his steel claws.

As the enemy's second wave arrived, we jumped over the Mobile Artillery.

"It's now or never, Dunban! Let's show them what we've got. We'll give them a warm Homs welcome!"

Dunban activated his sword and turned on the feature that was able to make our swords damage Mechon. He destroyed many Mechon with his "dancing blade" style of movement. He literally, touched the Mechon with one part of the Monado, severing that part, then ran to another one, where he literally slid on the ground, and was able to take another one out. He did this to at least twenty more Mechon, until the two of us caught up with him, and then promptly saw another wave.

"You've got to be kidding!" Mumkhar breathed.

"It's their main force, looks like the Mechon are hell-bent on taking us out." I reply.

"Dickson, Mumkhar. Let's do this!" Dunban responds.

He enchanted our blades, as we tore through at least a hundred Mechon, with Dunban having the most kills. I then hear an out cry, where Dunban is on a pile of at least thirty Mechon.

"Dunban!"

I threw myself on him, taking the him, and then fought the Mechon that attacked us both.

"I ain't going down that easily! Dunban! You all right?!" I ask, concerned.

"What does it look like? I'm still good to go." Dunban replies.

I helped him to get out of the line of fire from the Mechon, but while that was happening, I saw Mumkhar, our friend, our comrade-in-arms, our- words do not describe the treachery he displayed on that day.

"Sorry, brothers! Hate to drop this on you, but it's the Monado they're after. So have fun keeping 'em occupied for me! I'm getting the hell out of here." He says, with a grin.

"Mumkhar, you dirty..." I reply.

"Don't worry. I'll organise your funerals! Well, see ya boys!"

"Wait!"

He ran off, and I never have seen him again. The low-down son of a bitch. But, I've forgiven him, anyway he paid for his treachery with his life, and he also was one of my friends.

"If this is a joke, it ain't funny. Looks like this is it. At least we know our luck can't get any worse from here." I say.

Dunban then got to his feet, and activated the Monado.

"Dunban, what are you playing at?"

"Dickson, take care of the survivors!"

"Vile Mechon! If you think the Homs, the people of Bionis, are just waiting for you to pick us off… You are sorely mistaken!"

Then the greatest, most picturesque scene that I have ever seen happened. Dunban charged, no one in tow against three fortress units, and more then two hundred Mechon. He charged, and took down all of them, but in his time after he took down the fortress unit, it seemed like he got hundreds of shocks down his body. I ran after him, and saw him in the hole that he created.

"I...name this...Monado Wound." He managed to gasp out.

"Wow! Pretty awesome! He was able to wound the Mechonis with the Monado?" I ask.

"Yes, he almost died for it, but without his sacrifice, we would not be standing here today talking about it." Dickson answered.

"You never told us about Dunban and the Monado wound." Reyn say.

"Ask him about it after you guys go to the Mag Mell Ruins and get the ether cylinders."

"Oy, how do you know about the ether cylinders?" Reyn asks, incredibly annoyed.

"Well, Fiora told me, but Colonel Vangarre told me before that. I laughed and said, 'Sounds like Reyn to help Shulk!' The colonel actually laughed, but he said that all AWOL needed to be punished, but he let you off the hook easier when I told him that."

"Anyway, we're off to get some ether cylinders." I say.

"Yes, we're off" Shulk says.

 **Guest: Are you French in any way? No, I'm not. I'm actually Filipino-Italian, except I can't speak any Italian in any way.**

 **Anyway, follow, favourite, and post reviews. I love them! Also, the flashback is from Dickson's perspective.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III: Mag Mell Ruins

Walking to the entrance of Tephra Cave/Tephra Hill, we stumble upon this monster named Evil Rhangrot.

"Shulk, is that on our list of monsters to kill?" I ask, slightly nervous.

"Let's see… Cellar Bugworm, that's a nasty one, Verdant Bluchal, that's also nasty, Lake Magdalena, not so nasty, but annoying to fight as it is near the water, Evil Rhangrot, yes, it is on the list."

"Okay, let's do this!"

"Yeah, Reyn time!"

"To victory." I shout, trying to one-up my new friends.

Reyn charged head on while Shulk and I go to the side. I nock an arrow ready to let fly, as Shulk charges and unleashes a backslash. I see the head and let fly an arrow, it hits, and the creature reels.

"Let's go!" I say, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"Augustine, I don't know where you come from, but an arrow to the torso in this place does not kill a unique monster!" Shulk said, concerned.

I let fly another arrow, and wanting to conserve arrows, I drew my rapier, and made the animosity of the animal centre on me. The animal charges at me, and nearly connects with my foot, but I do a counter-attack, which is a fencing term for turning to the side.

Like a barbecue, on a skewer, it runs through, and while pinned down, Shulk used a turn strike, and Reyn used the topple. It dies.

"Good! That's about 1800 gold in our pockets!" Shulk says. "Not that I need any of it, I already earn a lot from the scientist job."

"That's enough to buy the new driver I want!" Reyn says. Shulk's eyes narrow. "Not that yours wasn't good Shulk, I love it! Although Colonel Vangarre wants me to get a driver that is slightly sharper and heavier."

"Reyn, how are you going to wield it, if it is too heavy?" I ask, respectfully.

"He's really strong. That's all the light I'm going to shed on it." Shulk replies.

"Thanks man! You really are the best!" Reyn happily exclaimed.

The three of us then uncover the loot that was left by the disappearing, well, rabbit. _From all of this, I'm probably in a fantasy universe_ , I think. _On Earth, I don't think there is any place that has giant rabbits like this, but then again, I might have teleported back in time, but no, there is a sword that exactly is like a light_ _sabre._ _If I am in a fantasy universe, though, I wonder how I got here,_ I think. The rabbit disappears and in its place is a gold chest, about the size of one of us.

"Ooh, shiny!" Reyn remarks.

Shulk and I also laugh, until Shulk remarks that we aren't that famous in Colony 9.

"Don't worry, we'll change that!" Reyn says, enthusiastically.

"So, onwards to Tephra Cave." I say.

The three of us go to Tephra Cave, but are stopped by more creatures called Ridge Antols. Apparently they are also on the list of creatures to kill, so we killed them and got about 800 gold. We also were able to finish up one of our chores for collecting things for children, and the elderly, so we got on to Tephra Cave, but suddenly Shulk stops.

"Reyn, remember this place?"

"Of course I do! I remember when we had that big fight, it was the largest bust-up we've ever had!"

"So, does this place bring back memories?" I inquire.

"Of course. We both think about this place a lot, I mean, not the place, the fight that we had." Reyn replies.

"I would think that if we've never had the argument, Reyn and I would have never been friends." Shulk said to me, thinking about the good times he and Reyn had.

"Wow, I hope I used to have friends like that. I've forgotten basically everything about the place I was in, except two things; my old girlfriend, and this place called New York City."

"Maybe you can make things over with us?" Reyn said.

"Of course I can, if only you can stop being a big, dumb, brute." I remarked with a smile on my face to try and kid him.

"Oy, who are you calling a big, dumb, brute?" Reyn asked, but I laugh and say that I was just kidding. "Oh, yeah! That's why Shulk and I used to fight so much! He was too clever for me, you're kinda like him in that regard!"

The three of us laugh, then ask the soldiers in the cave for the activities they want done. As usual, they say that they want some monsters killed, and some materials for their random building projects. After realising that we do have the items required, we procured them, and gave it to them for some nice money. We then walk into the cave, where we are greeted by a young woman, who stepped out of the shadow of the cave. The three of us, taken aback, nearly scream and run out, but she steps into the light, and we see who she is.

"You forgot something. You will be needing the transport cases as well?" Fiora says, with a slight smirk on her face.

She walks towards us, with the transport cases in her hand, while I talk to Reyn.

"Really? No wonder she doesn't trust you guys." I say.

"Fiora!" Shulk says, slightly nervous. Fiora holds out the transport cases slightly close to Reyn, and he attempts to grab them, but she pulls them back.

"I'm coming along as well! I'd feel better going with you guys, then sitting at home worrying about you. Anyway, let's get moving." She says, with a note of finality.

"I knew she didn't trust me." Reyn remarks.

"Looks like it." Shulk replies.

 _I have a feeling that Fiora likes Shulk,_ I think of saying aloud, but then decide in my best interests that I probably should not talk about people liking people when I don't know them that well.

"Anyway, if I recall correctly, we are going to be coming up on praying caterpiles, and this one large caterpile named Cellar Bugworm when we turn right." Shulk says, fairly wary.

The cave is very small, it is nothing like the places near the Colony that can be seen from the bridges in Colony 9. It is grey, and about seven feet tall, which isn't huge, considering the fact that some of the places near the Colony can get up to about 100-200 feet tall.

The three of us then keep walking until we see an open space in the cave. Apparently, all of the caterpiles convened in that area.

"Is that Cellar Bugworm?" Fiora asks.

"Yes, it looks pretty strong." Shulk answers.

"Are we insane?" Reyn asks.

"Uh-oh, this isn't good." I reply.

"You know what, let's leave it be, and let's beat up on the other weaker enemies that we got on our list. I have a feeling that if we do that, we can get our skills to the point that we can easily beat Cellar Bugworm." I say.

"I agree, we should do that." Shulk agrees.

The four of us then walk around the caterpiles, as caterpiles (as Shulk says) are sensitive to sight, so we need to keep out of their sight.

"Shulk, there's Mining Patrichev. That is one of the creatures on our list that we need to kill." Reyn says.

"It looks a lot weaker than the Cellar Bugworm. Let's do this!" Shulk exclaims.

"Ad victoria!" I say.

"Let's go on, and on, and on!" Fiora exclaims.

The four of us get into positions, where Shulk and I take the sides, Fiora takes the back, and lastly Reyn takes the animosity.

"Suck on this!" Reyn shouts.

The monster charges towards Reyn, and I lunge, into the rabbit's torso. Shulk then uses a slit edge on it, and then follows up quickly with a backslash. Fiora follows quickly with a power smash, which almost kills the Patrichev. Suddenly, a bat comes out and starts to attack Shulk.

"Ah! Get the vang off of me!"

Reyn then uses hammer beat on the vang, which makes it attack him. Fiora then used screw edge, and Reyn used wild down, which put the vang down. Fiora then dazed it, while simultaneously dodging a charge from the Mining Patrichev. I look on with interest, as I realise how good of a rogue/knife-fighter Fiora actually is. I then, accidentally, got hit by the Patrichev, that toppled me.

"Light heal!" Shulk says.

"My thanks." I reply.

Lastly, the bunnit charges, where I parry and cut its face, and kill it.

"Should be okay, if we fight like this." Fiora says.

"Piece of cake." Shulk says, standing triumphantly.

"Let's not lose our heads though." Reyn says.

"Unum bellus victoria." I reply.

"What does that mean?" Reyn asks.

"One beautiful victory." I say.

We press onward to a huge door, where Fiora, and I stand there awestruck at the size of the door.

"Are these the Mag Mell Ruins, this place seems extremely huge!" Fiora asks.

"Wow! Is this like a building or something?" I ask.

"Fiora, haven't you been here before? Augustine, you probably haven't seen this place." Reyn answers.

"Nope, I haven't been here before." Fiora answers.

"The Defence Force uses it for training, but I come here to do research. It's not really a place where people go to." Shulk says.

"Not surprising." Reyn says, rolling his eyes slightly, while Fiora laughed a slight bit, "There are lots of monsters here that use Mechon parts as armour."

"Was this built by the Mechon?" Fiora inquires.

"It doesn't look like it has the colour scheme of the Mechon. Most Mechon are blue and yellow, or black and yellow." I reply.

"Hmm, Augustine is correct, he as pretty good observation skills. But, the bigger elephant in the room is the fact that there's a path for people to get in. It might have been a vehicle of some kind, as I don't think it is a building." Shulk says, making conversation.

"A vehicle? But it's so big..." Fiora says in wonder.

"It's amazing technology. I wonder what king of people made it." Shulk says.

"I ain't got a clue." Reyn answered.

"Let's keep moving. The ether cylinders are up ahead." Shulk replies.

"Right!"

"So, anyway, I heard that the Wallslide Gwynry is up ahead, we need to keep on our guard." I say.

"Exactly."

The three of us keep walking, until we see some lizards, which we easily kill.

"I don't see this Wallslide Gwynry." I say.

Apparently, I jinx myself, and right after I say that, a large lizard, probably the mother of all of the lizards that we had seen, comes out of nowhere, and attacks all of us. As we are completely taken by surprise, the four of us got hurt.

"Shulk, we need healing!" Fiora shouted, slightly concerned.

"Oh, sorry! Light heal!"

In a split-second I draw my rapier, dodge the second attack that the Gwynry does and lastly thrust into the torso of the lizard. Fiora steps aside, and hits the thing from the back, Reyn hits the monster with hammer beat, and lastly Shulk backslashed the animal that nearly killed us. We battle it for about ten more minutes, and I end it with a slash to the neck, which decapitates it, and kills it.

"That was close!" Shulk breathes

"Wow, we nearly died." Fiora says.

"Too close." Reyn says.

"That was hard-fought." I reply.

We keep walking, until we see the light at the end of the tunnel. We emerge from Tephra Cave at the Cylinder Hangar high above Colony 9. I see the Colony and say that it looks extremely beautiful.

"Wow! This place looks extremely beautiful from up here." I say, amazed.

"Yep, Colony 9 is one of the nicest place on the Bionis!" Reyn says.

"Ha ha, there you are, showing off our colony again." Shulk says.

"Anyway, we're right here! Thanks for the help, guys. I'll start collecting them up. You guys hold on for a sec."

"It's full of Ether Cylinders...Hey, why do we have to come all the way here, to get them? Isn't there an ether cylinder fuelling station in the colony?" Fiora asks.

"Well, refining the ether takes a long time down there, and sometimes cylinderisation fails. By the way, there are so many cylinders here for us already, it's more reliable than making them ourselves." Shulk says.

"I might have a way to fix that, but that's for later." I say.

"Anyway, Colony 9's Anti-Air Batteries and mobile artillery are standardised for these cylinders, so they can be used straight away." Reyn answers.

"I see. You know, this place is in good condition considering it is ancient." Fiora says.

"It might be… That there's some form of technology being used to preserve it. It's just a shame we don't understand its secret."

"Really Shulk?" I ask.

"But I'll solve it one day and show you, if it's just technology that someone created in the past, it's not incomprehensible. We'll come to understand it one day." Shulk replies, while he tries to reach for some ether cylinders.

"Need help, man?" Reyn asks.

"Nah, it's okay, anyway I'll solve the secret of the technology. If it's technology that someone created in the past, it's not incomprehensible." Shulk replies.

"Don't go trying too hard, we can come and get ether cylinders whenever we need them. Besides, it's need a good place for Defence Force training." Reyn says.

"Yeah, so good that you didn't even want to come here without Shulk to back you up!" she said, teasingly, "Anyway, did you collect the cylinders?"

"Yeah!" Reyn said, pumping his fist, "All done."

"Just come by yourself from now on."

"What?" Shulk said, with a start.

Suddenly, two white machines come out. They look like an oval, with something in the middle, and two large bodies that are not connected to the main machine.

"Are they Mechon?" Fiora asks,, slightly stuttering due to nervousness.

"I don't now! But it looks like we'll have to destroy them!" Shulk replies, eyes wide with fright.

"In that case, just leave them to me!" Reyn says, slightly cocksure.

There are three machines, so I split up the team into Shulk and Fiora, with Reyn and I taking on a single machine, one of them charges at the two of us, and Reyn sidesteps and bashed the machine, destroying it, I then stab through the next one that is next to me.

"Take that!"

Shulk and Fiora were taking the last one, with Shulk taking the animosity, Fiora then used a butterfly step to destroy the thing.

"Fiora, are you okay?!" Shulk asks.

"I'm fine, how about the rest of you?" Fiora replies.

"We're all right." I say.

"What on Bionis were those?! I've never seen anything like them." Reyn says.

"Could they have been Mechon?"

"No, they are probably something left by the civilization that built this vehicle." Shulk answered.

"They didn't seem like Mechon to me, but why did they only show up now?" Reyn wonders.

"I don't know, but they were probably built to protect this place. They might have been activated in response to something...But I don't think that something could have been us." Shulk says, eyes furrowed in thought.

"Let's go back, I don't wanna be here any more."

"Me neither, and we've already got the ether cylinders."

"Guys, I don't want to say the elephant in the room, but what is that noise from outside?" I ask.

"Listen, what is that?" Fiora says, nervously.

We run outside, and a huge vehicle, or should I say Mechon, flies over the colony, banking left and right.

"It's a…!"


	4. Chapter 4: The Mechon Attack

Chapter IV: Mechon Assault

"This can't be!" Fiora says, her voice wavering.

"No way." Reyn says, trying his best to make the situation seem like this is a bad dream.

"Mechon assault?!" I shout, so scared that I nearly fall of the side of the cliff.

When I say that, a huge black and gold Mechon flies over us, with hundreds of little sack shaped things in it. At first I think they are bombs, but then realise that it is going somewhere else than the Military District, where the most tactically sound place to put Mechon would be.

"Mechon!" Shulk affirms.

"How?" Fiora asks, her voice tone going wild with fright.

With that last word, the carrier then drops hundreds of bo- no Mechon onto the colony. I can only imagine what the people in the colony think is happening and I hope that there are still people left.

"Didn't my brother destroy them all a year ago?" Fiora asks again, as we look at the hundreds of Mechon who are dropping through the air and landing in the colony.

"Could that defence mechanism have responded to the Mechon?" Shulk asks, but with more of a tone that would be a statement, rather than a question.

"Let's get back to the colony." Reyn declares.

Running, I say, "Let's go!"

"Tephra Cave is too far of a path! We should just jump down." Shulk says, trying his best to be calm.

"Okay..." I agree with a sigh.

The four of us then go over the edge, falling to the water, and hit it.

 _How am I not dead? I hit the water at over 32 kilometres, I don't think that's survivable._

We keep swimming to the shore, but right when we hit the shore another praying caterpile attacks us. Using my bow, and with Reyn's prowess with his driver, we kill it quickly, trying to save time as we know that the more we wait, and take a long time, the more people die..

We run up to the bridge that leads into Colony 9, and right there we see a Mechon killing a person,

 _Let's hope that never happens to any of us_ , I think.

It is more horrible than any of us have imagined, the Mechon don't exactly tear you apart, they more like put their entire arm around you, then kill you. No blood, no guts, nothing ever is a trace from a Mechon attack.

I try and suppress thoughts of all the people who were in the Colony 9 Commercial District. _The dozens of shopkeepers, and the hundreds of customers all...gone. Wait, I must not think about that, I need to focus and concentrate if I want to get out alive._

I realise then, that my thinking is pretty short because right there because Fiora, and Shulk gasp, while Reyn is slightly gagging.

"It's horrible..." Fiora gasps.

"They're eating people!" Shulk says.

"No way." Reyn says with disbelief.

Looking towards Dunban's house Shulk asks, concernedly, "Is Dunban okay?"

"Fiora! Go and check on him!" Reyn replies, shouting.

"I will!" Fiora shouts, running to the house.

"Uh-oh." I say.

"Heads up guys, we're going to have one hell of a fight." I say, while a Mechon confronts us, blocking our path to the Commercial District.

"If this thing wants a fight, let's give it one." Reyn responds.

I lunge at the machine's top portion, where I assume the head is.

"What?" I say, as the rapier bounces off, not injuring the Mechon.

"You have to topple it first!" Reyn says. "I learned that in the Defence Force. After you topple it, you can damage it with normal weapons."

"Got it." Shulk and I reply.

Shulk does his move and breaks the Mechon, while Reyn topples it, and I finish it, lunging, then dodging one of the claws, and shooting it in the head using an arrow.

"See? Didn't stand a chance!" Reyn says, elated.

"It's not that easy! We've only disabled it, but only for now, it will reactivate soon." Shulk replies, slightly pessimist.

At this statement, I see Fiora running out of Dunban's house to us, quickly trying to get to us.

"Where's Dunban?" Shulk asks.

"He's gone! I can't find him anywhere!" Fiora asks.

"What?! He ain't fit enough to face these things." Reyn realises.

"Reyn! Let's get to the lab!" Shulk answers.

"The lab? Of course! The Monado's there!" Reyn replies.

"Shulk, I have a feeling that Dunban is gone because he is probably using the Monado." Fiora replies, nervous. "I hope he doesn't get hurt using it, if it is true."

"Anyway, the Monado can take out Mechon, we need it!" Shulk says.

"Guys, how do we go through the Mechon?" I ask.

"They're pretty slow. We can outrun them." Shulk replies.

Only a few hours ago, this place was incredibly packed, almost like a large shopping centre, _hey I remember another thing from my past_ , but now the entirety of the Commercial District was destroyed, with roof shingles on the floor, holes in the buildings, shop keeps overturned, and bodies on the road, many probably having blunt force trauma due to the lack of blood _._

"It's horrible!" Fiora says, trying to shield her eyes from the carnage.

"I thought they ate them..." My voice trails, as I think about the people who were here a few hours ago.

"I hope many went into the shelters." Shulk replies.

"Guys, we need to pick up the pace..." Reyn shouts!

The four of us run to the Military District, and get to the bridge, where we see soldiers with drivers making a last line of defence. I see dozens of Mechon charge, and the soldiers fire a volley at the Mechon, destroying one, but the dozens keep advancing.

 _I wonder if these men are going to hold. They don't look like they're too happy doing this, but then again, who would be happy if there was an invasion in the place I lived._

"You lily-livered bastards! Hold the line, dammit!" Colonel Vangarre shouts, which we clearly hear, even from the bridge. "You blasted Mechon! You think you can do what you want in our colony?!" as the Mechon keep advancing and breaking up the line.

"The colonel! The guys!" Reyn says, as we keep running.

When Reyn says that, a Mechon swings one of its arms, which gets blocked by a driver. Another Mechon comes close again, but it swings its arm, hitting the sweet spot of the formation of troops, uprooting the driver line which protected the rifles.

The driver line non-existent, the Mechon charge, while the rest of the soldiers do their best to get out of their way.

"Men do not give up this position!" Colonel Vangarre shouts, while the entirety of the formation run away from them. "Run and I'll kill you myself!" He repeats.

The four of us then gasp when we see a large black Mechon lands right behind the Colonel, while he turns outside slowly.

"Ha ha ha, who the hell are you? A Mechon with a face?", he asks, slightly nervous. "Grin at me, will you?"

Colonel Vangarre raises his weapon up, and fires at the Mechon point-blank, but the only thing it does is push him back due to the recoil. The Mechon then advances unhindered.

"What?! Didn't even dent it!" He says, amazed.

A smaller Mechon then runs and interposes between the larger Mechon, and tries to kill the Colonel, but he parries the "claws" of the Mechon, which tries to eat him. The large Mechon then picks up a transport and throws it at the colonel, the wall obscuring our view, we do not know what the fate of him is. He then flies away, hopefully forever.

The two of us then run to the lab, trying to get the Monado, but then suddenly the tip of the lab falls on the entrance of the lab.

"The colonel...The guys...I'm gonna destroy every last one of those damn Mechon!" Reyn says.

"Shulk! The entrance!" Fiora says, not believing what happened.

"No! We'll never get in there now..." Reyn says, his voice trailing when he says that.

"Wait...Let me think here..." Shulk's voice trails in thought. "Wait, guys, the Mobile Artillery!' He says.

"Right! If we recharge it with those Ether Cylinders we collected, we can blast our way in!" Shulk says.

"It's in the Residential District!" Fiora replies.

"Good, it's fairly close." I reply.

"All right! This is it! Time to avenge the colonel and the boys!" Reyn says, excitedly.

"Let's go to the Residential District!" I say.

The three of us run out of the Military District, where we think that we can easily get to the Residential District.

"Guys! Keep running! They are gaining on us!" Fiora says

"Uh-oh!" I say, seeing that dozens of Mechon chase us and block the three ways into the Central Plaza. "You've got to be kidding me! Why in THE hell, are they all chasing us like no tomorrow? Not to be morbid, but there are other people in the colony!"

"Guys! More from behind!" Fiora says.

"Reyn, Augustine, looks like you guys and I need to cut a path through them." Shulk says.

"I agree, besides jumping off the railing." I reply.

"It will take too much time to swim to the shore!" Shulk shoots back, nervously gripping his weapons.

"Fiora! The three of us will open up a path, and you can run through." Shulk says, gears turning in his head.

"You three can't do it by yourselves! I wanna fight as well!" Fiora says, with a glint in her eye, a glint like "I will do whatever I can to protect this colony."

"Get through! We'll be right behind you!" Shulk replies.

"But Shulk..." Fiora's voice wavers.

"A year ago, Dunban and the Defence Force fought hard to protect the colony and all of us Homs. Now it's our turn to repay them!" Reyn says, steeling himself to fight.

"Dunban even gave the use of his right arm to protect us, we must fight!" I say.

"Please, Fiora." Shulk replies.

A Mechon charges at the three of us, and I use my new break that I developed fighting another Mechon, while Reyn toppled it, and Shulk destroyed it, slashing it from the back.

"Shulk… Reyn… Augustine..." She says, voice wavering.

"Don't look so worried. We'll just get rid of these ones. Shulk won't get a scratch, since that's all you care about." Reyn replies.

"Hey!" She says, a slight grin on her lips. "Okay. I believe you."

"Go now, Fiora!"

"Fly you fool!" I say.

"Reyn, Augustine!" Fiora shouts.

"What?" we both say.

"Take care!"

"Of course!"

"Looks like she trusts me after all!" Reyn says.

"I told you." Shulk dead-pans.

We also take down more Mechon, but the three of us are driven back to back, where I am thinking of saying goodbye to everyone I knew, even though I only know these three.

"That was a close one." Shulk says.

"You were never cut out for this stuff, you guys go. I'll take care of things here. I'm on of the Defence Force members that are still ready for action."

"You're too out of breath to persuade me." Shulk answers.

"United we stand, divided we fall." I reply. "We shall fight together, and die together."

Suddenly the top part of the pillar at the Central Plaza, damages from the Mechon assault, falls down to where Shulk and Reyn are, forcing the two to split up. I help Shulk up, fallen down due to the shock wave. We then run out to the other side, where Reyn is under attack by Mechon.

"Reyn! Behind you!" Shulk says.

The Mechon attacks, while Reyn tries to parry, but he stops the claws, Shulk and I having a collective breather as we thought he would die.

"Get outta here, guys!" Reyn says, while I try to break the Mechon, and Shulk tries to slash the legs of the Mechon.

"Don't be stupid!" Reyn says.

"More Mechon over there!" I say as dozens of Mechon charge at us from the Commercial District.

"Hold on!" Shulk says to Reyn.

The three of us then hear a roaring from the Residential District and see a blue light cutting through the dozens of Mechon there. The three of us are literally in awe as the blue blade runs through another Mechon, which flips through the air revealing on the other side a man with long hair. Through that, we see the dozens of Mechon that were sliced through explode.

The man who destroyed this Mechon had electricity swirl around his body.

"The Monado!" Shulk breathes.

"Sorry I kept you waiting." the man says, breathing a little bit hard. "Who's this?"

"He's Augustine!" Reyn replies.

"Dunban!" Shulk says.

"Whoa yeah! The Monado! So this is why you weren't at home. This is what I am waiting to see!" Reyn says, in awe.

"Ready, lads?" Dunban says. "Monado, enchant!"

"Let's to do this!" I say.

The four of us then have weapons that are incredibly good against Mechon. I draw my bow and nock an arrow, while Dunban destroys the Mechon next to me, while Reyn cuts through another's legs, and lastly Shulk destroys another Mechon slashing it through the face, which explodes. I then fire arrows like no tomorrow at the Mechon, destroying one with every shot.

"Nice one, Dunban! You didn't waste any time on them Mechon!" Reyn says.

"Shulk! Where's Fiora?" Dunban asks.

"The Residential District… We said we'd meet her there." Shulk replies.

"Wait, can't the Monado cut through stone?" I ask.

"Never tried that before." Dunban says.

"Looks like we'll have to take the long way around." Reyn says.

"All right, then we cut through the Commercial District!" Dunban says.

"Okay with me."

Dunban draws the Monado and enchants us, while I draw my foil, Shulk uses his junk sword, and Reyn his driver. I charge and cut through one of the Mechon like butter, I then throw my foil at one of the Mechon, which goes through one of the Mechon, and destroys five Mechon behind it in a line. Dunban then enlarges the Monado, where he destroys fifteen Mechon with one flick of his wrist. Reyn the stabs one of the Mechon, and destroys it.

I retrieve my foil and then lunge through another Mechon, destroying it while the rest of us work and destroy the rest of the Mechon. We then leave the Commercial District and get to the bridge, where Dunban collapses in agony, and electric goes over his body. He then drops the Monado, where it skitters along the bridge and deactivates, where we hurry to him.

"Dunban! You can't take any more of the Monado!" Reyn says.

"But I must! I don't have a choice!" Dunban shouts.

Dunban stretches out his hand to reach for the sword, but then coughs up blood on the ground.

"Dunban are you okay?" I ask.

"I… must…. Pick… it…" He then lays on the ground.

"Reyn's right. You can't go on like this." Shulk says, and runs forward to get the Monado before the Mechon did, Shulk then picks it up and activates it, with a wince on his face. "This time… It's my time!"

"Shulk, no! It'll kill you Shulk!" Dunban says.

I then pass out again, and see a Mechon shoot something at Shulk, which he doesn't dodge. I then, for some strange reason, wake back up and see the same thing happening, except in real time.

 _Can I see into the future?,_ I ask myself. _Well this is cool. I wonder what triggers it?_

 _"_ What the?!" Dunban says, amazed.

The attack strikes a wall behind Reyn and Dunban, and causes a massive explosion. _Wow, if that hit him…_ Another Mechon attacks, and I see something like a dream, which shows that it would kill Shulk if that arm hits them. He evades it, while I wonder, _How come I don't black out any more?_

"Wow. Shulk's pretty awesome!" Reyn says.

"How can this be? Shulk is using the Monado." Dunban replies.

"Shulk! More company!" Reyn warns.

"Reyn!" Dunban says.

"Right." Reyn replies.

The two of us then charge at the Mechon, where Dunban cuts a Mechon through the leg. Shulk then sees that more Mechon are advancing on him, and then does a sweeping attack on the Mechon.

"We got your back!" I say.

"Shulk, Augustine, do both of you fell all right?" Dunban asks.

"I'm okay. But there was something strange. Just now, it was as if I could see into the future. Is that another power of the Monado?" Shulk asks.

"Shulk, I think that I also see the future."

"See into the future? What are ya saying?" Reyn says.

"Are you certain? Shulk!" Dunban says.

"Yes!" Both of us answered.

"I remember Dickson saying that the Monado had a hidden power. Could this be it?" he asks.

"What?" Shulk asks.

"Don't think about it now, just believe what the Monado showed you and fight!" Dunban replies.

The four of us then cut through more Mechon on the way to the Residential District, where we all see a huge black Mechon with the metal face.

"Holy freaking hell! What in the seven hells is that thing!" I say.

"It's massive..." Reyn says in awe of the thing.

"That Mechon… It has a face?!" Dunban says.

"That don't mean nothing" Reyn says.

"That's right! Not when we have the Monado!" Shulk replies.

"Monado enchant!" Shulk says.

The four of us charge where I hit the Mechon on the legs, while Shulk, Reyn, and Dunban got the back. Shulk slashed, where the sword then bounced off the Mechon, and Reyn slashes at the legs, where the driver then broke.

"The Monado! It's not working." Shulk says, frustrated.

"Oi! What d'ya mean?!" Reyn says, holding up his broken driver. "Shulk! You need to make a new driver for me once this is done!"

"But, how can that be? The Monado should cut through Mechon with ease!" Dunban says.

"Guys, do you have any ideas?" I ask.

"There's a light on the Mechon, other Mechon don't have that. Could that light be why the Monado has no effect?" Reyn asks.

"Shulk! Reyn! Augustine! Get down!" Dunban warns, while shielding us from his claws. "Stay back, I'll take it from here."

"No! You can't take any more!" Reyn says, trying to hold Dunban back.

"Dunban! We need to think about this." I reply.

Dunban runs, with Reyn holding him back, but the Mechon knocks both of them back with the hand. The Mechon comes over to me, where I try to parry and he knocks my foil out of the hand. Metal Face then goes for the kill when the Mechon gets hit by a heavy blast that knocks it to the ground, but it is not injured.

"Everyone. Get away, right now!" Fiora says, trying to pilot a mobile artillery.

"Fiora!" Dunban shouts at the top of their lungs.

At this moment, I then see a dream, where Fiora's mobile artillery destroys Mechon at the foot of the mobile artillery. The dream continues with claws going through the mobile artillery, where I realise something.

"What did I just… Fiora! Get back!" Shulk shouts.

"Fiora get out of there!" I shout, while the vehicle continues to advance.

"I won't let you hurt any more people! We will save Colony 9!" Fiora shouts, steeling herself for the fight.

 _Oh no! She might…_ I think, as I really did not want any of my newfound friends to die.

"Fiora then fires the missiles at the Metal Face, which hits the Mechon, but then she fires the Gatling cannon on the right of the Artillery, which hits the Mechon, but it keeps going uninjured, even charging up a ball of blue light, which fires at Fiora.

"Fiora! Get out of there! Run!" Shulk says.

Fiora then fires the main cannon, which launches both of them away from each other.

"YES! Let's go Fiora!" I say.

The Mechon then gets up.

"How… did.. that… happen?" I ask.

The Mechon then lifts the artillery so that it is eye to eye with Fiora, then slams the artillery against a nearby house, smashing the vehicle into pieces.

"FIORA!" Shulk shouts.

All of us are still on the ground, helpless to intervene, as the Mechon goes nearer, then suddenly plunges its claws into the vehicle, while Fiora's screams were cut short. We look on, horrified, as we try to rise, our revenge overpowering our senses.

"I'll kill you!" Shulk shouts.

The four of us then charge at the Mechon, where I parry the claws of the Mechon, Dunban then parries the claws of the other hand, while Shulk, and I stab the faceplate.

"Die!" Shulk shouts, face contorted in revenge.

"You scum!" I say, plunging my rapier into the eye socket, while the Mechon tries his best to get us off, and he does. Reyn then runs over to us while I nearly pass out.

"Guys!" Reyn asks, trying to see if we are okay.

The Mechon then looks at Dunban, and then flies away, along with the rest of the Mechon.

"Get back here!" Reyn shouts.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Fiora shouts.


	5. Chapter 5: Aftermath

Chapter V: Aftermath

"Get back here!", Reyn shouts. I watch the Black Mechon with golden trim fly up, curl into a ball, _well not really_ , then fly out into the sky with the rest of the transports.

It is a sight to see the entire colony at this point, there are many fires that light up the night sky like stars, and there is so much smoke that it obscures the top of the bowl of Colony 9. I wonder about the dozens, even hundreds of people who have died in the attack.

"NOOO!" Shulk shouts, jarring myself out of the thoughts that ensued. He looks with a look of death, and it that moment alone, I know that he and Fiora were two romantics.

Dunban looks on with pain in his face.

"So...What do you think we should do." I ask, trying to break the tension.

"Honestly, we really need to sleep. It is almost 2:00" Dunban replies, looking down sadly, but otherwise not showing any outwards signs of distress.

"Yes, we really need to rest." Reyn says, almost crying.

"Anyway, talking about resting, where should I rest?" I ask, knowing that I don't have a house, or bed.

"Augustine, I have a feeling that if you just ask anyone they'll probably let you in. They can't let one of the heroes of Colony 9 sleep outside in the streets." Reyn says, with a very slight teasing tone.

"We should head back to the Military District check on the survivors, and bring them back to their houses." Dunban says.

The three of us then begin the trek to the Military District, across the bridge while the hundreds of people in the shelters pour out, going to the Residential and Commercial Districts. Then, I see a flashback, thousands of people walking in front of a building with a burned out dome, while fires burn around a T-bridge, no buildings left standing besides the one with the burned out dome.

 _Is this where I'm from? Why am I imagining this if this didn't happen to me. Then again, maybe I was an avid reader, and the flashback I'm having might have been inside a book._

"Anyway," trying to shake my head of those horrible thoughts, "Shulk, Reyn can I go to any of your houses and sleep there?"

"'Course man." Reyn replied. "At least there are many survivors too." His voice tries to cheer the rest of us up, while Dunban quietly makes his leave. The three of us then walk, while Reyn says that I should probably sleep in the barracks.

"Reyn, do you think the Colonel would think that I should sleep in the barracks? Some of the survivors say that the Colonel has survived." I ask him as we walk to the barracks, and Shulk leaves to go to the lab.

"What?! The colonel has survived?! How? Why? I saw a huge explosion take his life." Reyn answers, trying to keep all emotions inside him.

"Well, I know that he is in the hospital wing of one of the Military District." I say. "That's what the survivors say."

"Anyway, we need to go to and sleep." Reyn says.

The two of us then walk to one of the barracks, where Reyn says that the place is the barracks. _I wonder what is happening_.

I then go to a bed, while Reyn walks out.

 _He's probably going to cry a bit more_.

With that I sleep.

 _I see a party, where I and about one-hundred people are gathered, and a man in a suit and a tie gets up. I assume that he is a director, of some sorts._

" _Today, we see proof of men becoming gods. We see proof of people reaching out to other places that we thought were not possible to reach. We have been able to…"_

 _Not hearing the rest of the speech in this dream, I look around where people are sitting and realise that I recognise them, but don't know their names._

 _We drink the liquid in the flutes, and I recognise it to be champagne._

 _The dream then disperses into another one, where I am surrounded by blue light after I walk into a chamber with another person._

" _Hold on!" a disjointed voice shouts. "We aren't at the destination point yet!"_

" _It's too powerful, we need to eject and soon!" a voice that mysteriously sounds like mine shouts._

 _The door opens then-_

"GAAH!" I shout, waking Reyn up with the noise, especially as I fall out of bed.

"Oy! Do ya know what time it is?! It is literally 6:00! This is literally the only day that I won't have drill at 6:00 in the morning. I wanna sleep more, so that when square-tache becomes well, I can resume his training sessions." Reyn says, annoyed at his wake-up call.

"Sorry. Bad dream."

"Oh, seems like that you weren't the only one having bad dreams last night."

"Wait what happened last night? Besides us and the Mechon."

"Man, you sleep soundly, I heard some of the cries of the wounded all the way from here. I thought that the last time I would hear that noise would be the Battle of Sword Valley."

"That battle must have been huge."

"Yes, it was. As Dickson said, it was a last ditch attempt to destroy all the Mechon. Both Colony 6 and Colony 9 were emptied of troops."

"Anyway, now that we're up, what do you think we should do?"

"Wanna see if Shulk is up?" He says that and then sighs. "Fiora was such a good friend to all of us, I want to console Shulk and Dunban about it."

"Well, I don't think we should bottle up our feelings."

"Yep, that's true."

The two of us then walk outside, where we see that the Colony is still in shambles, but not as much as the night before when the Mechon attacked. It still is interesting to see these places without people.

We silently walk along the bridge to the Commercial District, where all of the bodies from last night have been cleaned up, and the blood the marked the walls and signified the attack were also cleaned up. There are no fires, and the sun begins to come up showing the resilience of the colony. We then walk by the place where Dunban saved us the night before on the bridge, destroying Mechon left and right in a bid to destroy all the Mechon who invaded Colony 9.

"People clean up fast here." I remark.

"Of course. The Homs are a very strong race, the Nopon moreso." Reyn answers, his lips slightly moving.

The two of us walk by Dunban's House, where we close our eyes in respect for his fallen kin.

"There's no way I'm seeing him." Reyn says.

"But...the entire reason we got out of bed." I reply.

"I can't do it, I'm not strong enough to console him. I betcha that if I go in there and he starts to talk, I'll probably break down and then cry like a baby. I mean they couldn't even find her bod-", he chokes up and punches his two fists together, "I'll destroy every last one of those damn Mechon."

"All the loss of life, Nopons, Homs, it is a wonder you keep going, then again, where there's life, there's hope."

The two of us skip Dunban's House and keep walking to Outlook Park, where we see a very familiar blonde person.

"Hey." Reyn greets, his tone anything but jovial.

"Did you guys go and see Dunban?" Shulk inquires, slightly concerned.

"No." I answer, a slight bid more flat than I want it to come out.

"Have you?" Reyn asks.

"Yeah."

"We just can't do it. You've got more guts than the both of us." Reyn replies. I crack a smile at this statement.

"Not at all, it was actually him that consoled me." Shulk says.

"I think that is the type of guy he is." Reyn says.

"I have a feeling that he puts on a strong front and tries to encourage everyone. He's a natural leader." I say.

"Even without the Monado, he is the strongest person I know." Shulk replies.

"So… What did Dunban tell you when you were at his house?" Reyn asks.

"He said that he will shed no tears."

"What?" Both Reyn and I are perplexed.

"But… we were both bawling our eyes out yesterday, and she was only our friend." Reyn answered.

"He also said that he already experienced this sense of loss and hardship one year ago." Shulk says.

"Yeah, the Battle of Sword Valley." Reyn cuts-in.

"Anyway he says, and I quote, 'Everyone who died in that war had something they wanted to protect. Family, friends, loved ones, their home… So we fought to protect them, and won. No matter how painful, no matter how hard, it's nothing to be sad about. He decided there and then.'"

"Shulk, he actually said that right, you aren't lying right." Reyn says, half-jokingly.

"He must have come to terms with his existence." I say, slightly narrowing my eyes.

"Anyway, he also says that we should treasure the gift of life that Fiora was able to give us." Shulk continues.

"He's one of a kind, that Dunban." Reyn says.

The three of us stand on Outlook Park, while we all contemplate what we should do next. Although, Shulk looks like he already made a decision.

"I've made a decision."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Yes, my purpose in life is to pursue that Faced Mechon."

"Shulk…" Reyn says.

"Are you mad?" I say. _Oh crap, did I just say that out loud._

"Ha." Reyn chortles.

"They attacked our colony, killed Fiora, and countless other people. I will find that Mechon- I will find it and destroy it. I will destroy them all!"

Reyn and I then laugh, surprised at his outburst of anger.

"What are you laughing at?" Shulk asks, raising his tone of voice ever so slightly.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just a bit weird, as I thought that you'd never say it." Reyn says.

"So, you agree?" Shulk asks.

"'Course man. I'm just surprised that you came out with it first!"

"You thought that I'd try and talk you out of it! 'That's not what Fiora would want.' That sound right?" Shulk says this with a wry smile.

"Yeah. Something like that. I thought you'd give me a hard time."

"In my head, there are two versions of me. One of them is telling me to listen to what Dunban is saying, and the other one is saying, 'Make them pay! Destroy every single one of them!' and it won't stop\ getting louder."

"Sure doesn't sound like you. You sure that isn't my voice in there?"

"Might be! Sure is a bit of a loudmouth!"

The three of us laugh, but then Shulk goes back to being serious.

"So, Augustine, you said that this was a mad affair?" He says, advancing on me with a slight smirk.

"One, I didn't mean to say that out loud. Two I have nothing to do here. Save for working on the Monado, but I'm assuming that you'll need that for the Mechon hunt."

"Yes, we'll be needing that, thank you very much. Anyway, do you want to go, or not? You have been a very good fighter and we'll be needing you for all the regular monsters."

"You know what?" Both of them advance ever so slightly on me. "I'll go. I would love to adventure in this place as I have a feeling that I have explored every nook and cranny of the place I came from."

"That's the spirit!" Reyn says. "Anyway, when are we going?"

"Now." Shulk answers.

"Wait, let's go back to the Commercial District to restock on supplies, my sword broke, and I need arrows."

"True, I hear that they have a new driver out and we also this money in burning a hole in my pocket."

"I'll buy armour, even though there are probably monsters that can provide us with armour on the trail."

A few minutes of shopping later, we do the final check on our supplies.

"Bow"

"Check"

"Arrows"

"Check"

"Two rapiers, one with a swept hilt, and one with a Pappenheimer hilt."

"Check."

"Monado"

"Of course!" Shulk shows the huge sword on his back.

We go down the list quickly and then the three of us depart for Tephra Cave. We see another bunnit that looks like Evil Rhangrot and steer clear, because we already collected the bounty for it, we then go near Tephra Cave, but Shulk stops us.

"What's the hold-up." I ask.

"It's all very well going after that Faced Mechon, but shouldn't we have a plan?" Shulk asks the two of us.

"How 'bout checking Colony 6?" Reyn says.

I look interested.

"Colony 6… It's the last Homs Colony left." Shulk says.

"Colony 6 is on the way to Sword Valley, where there is a Mechon Base. If that's where they came from, then maybe the people from Colony 6 saw something." Reyn replies.

"Good point, they might even know something about that metal-faced Mechon." He looks at the map. "So we go past the Mag Mell Ruins and up through Tephra Cave, then we should arrive at Bionis Knee."

"Bionis Knee?" I ask.

"Well, we do live on titans. How else should we name places?" Shulk answers.

"And, if we make it to the knee, it ain't far from Colony 6." Reyn says.

"Any types of monsters we should take care of?" I ask.

"Well, besides the infestation of Mell Lizards, there is also, I heard, a huge amount of arachnids inside the cave." Shulk says.

"Right! Sounds like a plan, forward to Colony 6!" I say, enthusiastically.

The three of us then walk into the cave in high spirits.


	6. Chapter 6: Incoming Spiders

Chapter VI: Incoming Spiders!

The three of us go through the Mag Mell Ruins, walking by the familiar places. The regular sights, and sounds of Tephra Cave around us; the dripping of water, the many stalactites and stalagmites, the darkness permeated by few lamps that Shulk say are made out of ether, and the hard ground with many slippery rocks that make us lose our footing. It's pretty hard to believe that this is the same place that we went to before Fiora died.

"Oy, watch it over there!" Reyn says, as Shulk slips on a rock.

"Aaahhh!"

"Maybe we shouldn't run through these areas." I say, as Shulk and Reyn keep running everywhere they go. "Anyway, why do you run everywhere? Don't you guys get tired sometimes?"

"We do, but the only times that we walk is when there are monsters that detect you through sound instead of sight." Shulk answers.

"You know what, I've never gotten to know either of you. You two are very interesting people, and your bond seems inseparable."

"Come on Augustine, we explained to you that we are such good friends because of the fight that we had when we were younger." Reyn says.

"So, how did you two meet each other?" I ask while we keep walking.

"Well, fourteen years ago Dickson brought me to the colony." Shulk says.

"Why did he bring you to the colony? Isn't he your father?"

"No, you know the Monado right?" as Shulk asks this I nod my head, "There was an expedition fourteen years ago, where both of my parents died. I don't remember anything about the expedition except the fact that inside the tower that the Monado was housed, we took it out of the place, there were beautiful ether shimmers."

"Ether shimmers?"

"They're hard to explain, but I think there are some in Tephra Cave." Shulk answers.

"So when Dickson brought Shulk to the Colony, fourteen years ago, naturally he met me, and Fiora at school. We didn't get along together that well, at first." Reyn says.

"Then I met Dunban, and I was taken by his...well, awesomeness. He then said to me that he couldn't have this mastery without his friends. Dickson, my surrogate father, is a friend of his, so he taught me how to make friends."

"He apologised to me, and the two of us became friends."

"Reyn and I have been inseparable since."

"Tell us about yourself Augustine." Reyn asked.

"Well, I still can't remember a lot, but I know that I was an avid reader, or so I think. Another thing that I can remember is my name, and the fact that I had a girlfriend. I also just celebrated my 20th birthday. The only other thing that I can remember is that I'm from another place, maybe even universe, as I tried to calculate some things in physics, and nothing added up."

"Wow! Twenty, that's pretty old." Reyn says.

"Reyn, you're 18." Shulk says, laughing.

"Oh yeah! I just turned 18 a few weeks ago. You, Shulk, you turned 18 a few months ago."

"That was a birthday to remember…" Shulk trails off with a smile.

We get to the Mag Mell Ruins and see Military Personnel. They ask us a few favours to get some arachno string, and other random monster parts. Shulk remarks that none of these items should be hard to get.

"Let's not lose our 'eads though." Reyn says, as Shulk remarks.

"Ha ha."

The three of us then see a door that is green-lit instead of red-lit.

"Shulk, how did you remember that this door was red-lit when we came here earlier? Have you studied this place so profusely that you now know every door in the ruins?"

"I just had a hunch, like usual?" His pitch goes up with slight uncertainty.

"Why'd it turn green?" I ask.

"Maybe it was programmed to open up in case of a Mechon emergency. The way to Bionis Knee is just up ahead."

"How do you get to Bionis Knee regularly? Without the Mechon emergency?" I ask.

"Hover transports. We rarely go through Tephra Cave unless you're posted there."

"Traders go through Tephra Cave." Shulk says.

"Yeah, they do, but I don't know where they go through." Reyn answers.

We walk through the door and see some of the men posted there.

"Hey guys." Reyn says.

"Reyn, I heard that you resigned."

"Yeah, I'm going to that Metal-Faced Mechon, and showing him what-for. I'll give him as much hell as-"

"That's well and good Reyn." Shulk adds in.

"Ha ha ha."

The two of us keep walking through the escape pod, and see a lot of ether lamps.

"Careful guys, the Defence Force doesn't protect anyone outside of the escape pod bay."

"Okay Reyn."

We stop at an ether lamp.

"This, Augustine, is an ether lamp."

"Traders use these things for navigation." Reyn adds.

"Can we follow these to the Bionis Knee?" I ask.

"Of course." Reyn replies. "But, this place is pretty dangerous. If armed traders need guideposts, then it must be extremely dangerous here. We must keep our wits around us."

"Definitely." Shulk says.

The two of us keep walking through the stone caverns, where the ground is thankfully dry and not slippery. We then get attacked by a lot of bunnits, and we kill them all.

"So, what did we get this time?" I ask.

"Wow, it's new shoes!" Reyn shouts, barely containing his excitement.

"What's that green thing inside them?" I ask.

"Oh, that's an ether gem. Sorry that we couldn't give you one. You can have these shoes though."

"Thanks Reyn!"

"No worries, man."

We keep walking until we see a pool, where many dead traders are there. The five men are garbed in gray armour, with orange trim. Their armour is full body, unlike ours, as even the leggings are armoured. Next to their bodies are ether rifles, and swords are at their hips, not drawn. That signified a surprise attack by animals. I look and see that on one of them there is blunt-force trauma on their head. On another body the face is bloodied to a pulp, unrecognisable. It slightly looks like mandible marks on his face. I look away, not wanting to survey the rest of the bodies.

"What the…?" Reyn says, mouth agape with surprise and disgust.

"Look at the emblem. They're traders from Colony 6, no wonder it's been so long since the last delivery." Shulk says.

"Why? How long should deliveries take?" I ask.

"About 2 weeks, it's been nearly a month since the last delivery." Shulk answers.

"Reyn… their injuries…" I say.

"They weren't made by no Mechon. It was probably the monsters that live here." Reyn sighs "Man, that's grim. I don't wanna die in a cave like this. Not even killed by Mechon, just some monsters in a cave."

"This is the antithesis of a good death." I say.

Shulk looks in thought, "They had families… children…"

"Maybe, it wouldn't surprise me. What makes you say that?" Reyn asks.

"No reason. Reyn, shouldn't we return them to the Bionis?" Shulk asks.

"Oh, right. What's born from the Bionis is returned to the Bionis, that's the way of the Homs." Reyn answers.

"What's returning to the Bionis? Is that cremation, or something else?" I ask.

"It depends on the Colony. Colony 9, usually brings them to the water and sets them to the water. We're gonna do that because we're pretty near water, aren't we?" Reyn replies.

I take the head of one, while Reyn takes the feet of the other, while flies are buzzing about we set the first body on the water, Shulk prepares the next one and we take him to set lake, where we set him down too. The three of us then do the same things with the other three bodies, and about twenty minutes later we finish with the ritual.

"Do you do the same thing in your world, Augustine?" Reyn asks.

"I don't know, but there is a saying in our world, 'From dust you have been created, and to dust you shall return.'"

The three of us nod as Reyn voices his tiredness.

"That was way harder than I thought it'd be. I'm just about ready to collapse!" He voices.

"We should take a rest, if all of these monsters killed all these traders then we need to be at our best. I'm wide awake, so I'll take first watch." Shulk says.

"Yes, I would say it is imperative for us to rest." I say, yawning. "Anyway, thanks for taking first watch. I'm pretty tired. Reyn, will you sleep too?"

"Yes."

I get into my sleeping bag and rest.

A few hours later I get woken up by Shulk and Reyn talking.

"Hey… Why do you think the Mechon attacked? Are we just food to them, or did we do something wrong? Sort of reminds me of the battle between the Bionis and the Mechonis. I wonder if it's got to do with that." Reyn says.

I wake up and sigh.

"Oh, up already?" Shulk asks.

"Yeah, Reyn, did you sleep too?" I ask.

"No, couldn't sleep a wink."

"So, what are you two talking about? Friends, family, or something else?" I ask.

"We are talking about why the Mechon attacked Colony 9." Shulk answers. "I mean, it's hard to believe that us living beings are just a source of energy to machines. There has to be another reason!"

"There probably is, if there wasn't then the Mechon should be attacking the other living beings of Bionis, the Nopon, the animals…"

"Exactly." Reyn pipes in. "I don't care whatever their reason is. I'll never forgive them. They killed Fiora."

"Hmm, I remember that right before Fiora died, the Monado showed me that Fiora was in danger, but I couldn't save her." Shulk says.

"Wait, I had a vision too! Does that mean we both can…" My voice quivers with excitement.

"How about the time when I touched the Monado, could you see something?" Shulk asks.

"Yes."

"Cool!" Reyn says. "Though, I don't think that's true."

"Just you wait, maybe one day we'll save your life, Reyn." I wink at this statement.

"I would love to see that." He replies. "By the way, I've been wondering why Shulk can wield the Monado, and I may have gotten the answer."

"Let's hear it." Shulk says, slightly smiling.

"You were a survivor from the Monado expedition team that went out 14 years ago. There was a blizzard or something and your mum and dad died, and Dickson brought you back." Reyn says.

"That sounds right. I was pretty young, so I don't really remember that much."

"Yes, you said that all that you remember are the ether shimmers." I say.

"True." Shulk replies.

"Is that why you help Dickson with his research? Do you miss your parents?" I ask.

"Maybe. Part of me does see it as something to remind me of my mum and dad. But mainly, if it really is the sword that the Bionis used to kill the Mechonis, like in the legend… I want to work out its secret. That's the real reason." Shulk replies

Reyn stands up, and the two of us are astonished.

"I've got it! You were chosen! By the Monado!" Reyn shouts.

"What?" I ask. "There is no such thing as a chosen one."

"Don't you see guys? Not even Dunban can handle it. It ain't chance that you can and he can't." Reyn says.

"I mean, Occam's Razor says that the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation is. Shulk says that before that attack, he couldn't use the Monado. Except that those 'visions' happened. It is in the realm of possibility." I say.

"We'll take the next watch, you need to get some rest." Reyn says, deflecting it slightly.

"Okay, I'll try." Shulk walks to one of the sleeping bags and sleeps. "Night, Reyn."

The two of us watch, but then something in my mind pulls me.

"Are you okay?" Reyn asks.

"Yeah." I say slightly laboured. "I think I'm having another one."

I see a hazy dream world with a man in a blue coat. He has slightly grey hair.

"You are a traveller from another world. You should not be here."

"I didn't want to be here..."

"On the contrary, your group wanted to be here."

"A group?"

"As you will find, the future is yours."

"What?"

I phase out of the dream world, as the young man waves farewell and I see some spiders incoming.

"Reyn, we have incoming spiders!" I shout.

A vision overtakes me and I see a bunch of spiders surrounding Reyn in a chamber. The chamber has vines covering the entire place, and behind there is a huge spider, probably a queen. Reyn tries to block one of the hits, but the fang goes through his shield, impaling him.

"Well, that won't happen on my watch." I say to myself.

"Shulk! Shulk!" Reyn shouts, to wake him up, as our camp is overrun with spiders. "What're ya playing at?! Give us a hand!"

I pick up my bow and start shooting, killing a few of the spiders. Shulk then activates the Monado and in one fluid stroke, cuts off the legs of two spiders, and kills them instantly. Reyn blocks with his guarder and kill more of the spiders. One of them goes close to me, where I jump and shoot them, exactly like a Legolas move from Lord of the Rings. In a few more strokes, we destroy the monsters.

I sigh, thankful that I have survived the encounter.

"I'm sorry, Reyn." Shulk says.

"Don't worry about it. It looked like you were having a nightmare." Reyn replies.

"What did you dream about?" I ask. "We might have dreamt about the same thing."

"I dreamt about something with the True Monado." Shulk replies.

"I dreamt about a man talking about the future being ours."

"Doesn't make sense, does it?"

"No, it doesn't."

"What's with you two? We'd better get a move on." Reyn says, breaking as up from the conversation.

I have another vision, where Reyn gets killed by the spiders. I look over to Shulk and his facial expression says that he probably had the same thing.

We walk deeper into Tephra Cave, as Reyn runs and shows us the way. We come to another portion where there are ovals sticking out of the ground. They have intricate patterns on them, but one of them bursts to reveal a large amount of spiders.

"What on Bionis are those?" Reyn asks.

"Monsters' egg sacks… I think… But it looks like there are Mechon parts inside as well." Shulk answers.

"What kind of monsters are they?" Reyn asks.

"Probably some type of arachno?" Shulk answers.

"So they aren't called spiders?" I ask.

"No, only kids call them spiders."

The two of us then get a vision, where Reyn gets killed by a large spider.

"Reyn! Get back!" The two of us shout simultaneously.

A web drops onto Reyn's body and he gets trapped, he tries to struggle out of the web, but it entangles him further, and he gets taken up through the ceiling of the cave.

"We've gotta find him!" Shulk shouts to me.

"Let's go."

We run down a slope and get to a lake, where we look for signs of Reyn.

"You things just don't give up, do ya?" We hear him shouting and look up. He is running away on one of the upper levels from another groups of arachno.

"We need to get up there." I say.

The two of us scan the cave, until we see something that looks like vines.

"Hey, we can climb that!"

The two of us climb up through the vines and get to a hallway full of vines. Suddenly we hear shouting from the cave.

"Reyn!" Shulk shouts.

"Shulk! There's too many of 'em. I kill one, and ten others come up."

"Reyn! No!" Shulk shouts, as Reyn runs after more arachno. "Not that way!"

We keep running and hear a rumble coming from the tunnel.

The giant arachno seen in our visions then appears out of nowhere, with hundreds of other soldier arachno charging to the middle, Reyn hopelessly trapped.

"Reyn dodge!" Shulk shouts.

Apparently Reyn doesn't hear this statement and instead tries to block. Shulk winces with that, but a strange yellow light comes near and a character is shown in the middle. He swings the sword and the three of us are engulfed in a yellow forcefield. The queen's fangs hit the force field and then bounces off.

"What the hell?" I ask.

"What is this?" Reyn asks.

"The power… of the Monado?" Shulk asks sceptically.

"Look out!" Reyn says as the arachno charges, and interposes himself into the middle of the arachno and Shulk. "Pretty glad that one of us figured out that these things would try an ambush."

"À l'attaque !" I shout, while I draw my rapier.

A soldier arachno charges next to me, while I parry its fangs and then strike at its head. It instantly dies, while I again dodge another one and then hit it, killing it too. Shulk charges to the side and flanks another arachno, and stabs him.

After clearing the soldiers, we then charge at the queen. The queen quickly dies when the Monado busted it.

"Looks like the Monado works on more than just Mechon. I gotta say, that's pretty awesome!" Reyn says.

"I thought we already knew that." I say, jokingly.

"Reyn… I just realised something." Shulk says.

"What?" Reyn asks.

"The future I see… It isn't set. I think it is more like a warning."

"A warning?" Reyn asks.

"Makes sense." I say.

"Yeah… A warning about what will happen. What will happen if we don't do anything, or if we can't do anything. So, we can use this power to change the future, and that is exactly what we shall do." Shulk replies.

"You've gotten my vote. And if you could really do that… I think Fiora would have liked it too." Reyn says.

"So, how do we get to Colony 6 from here?" I ask.

"It's pretty easy! We take some of that Queen's fluid, we melt the web, and the three of us go to the hole. It's right there." Reyn says.

The three of us then keep walking to the outside, and the three of us are nearly blinded when we go outside, as it is brightness which contrasts the dark of the cavern.


	7. Chapter 7: Intro to Bionis' Leg

Chapter VII: Introduction to Bionis Leg

"That was interesting." I say, in aftermath of the spider fighting and their subsequent running away. "My eyes are nearly blind because of that cave, but I will have to say that I missed the feeling of grass underneath my feet."

"Heh, you'll get used to it." Reyn says. "I remember in Defence Force training we needed to run to Bionis Kneecap a lot of times. It didn't help that the Colonel wanted us in peak physical shape every day."

"Must have been tough, but I hope Colony 6 is close now."

"Nope. Colony 6, is far from the Bionis Leg, which we are about to enter."

"Guys, keep on the lookout for a mound near the place that we are climbing up, there is a little present that one of the Soldiers said is for us." Shulk says.

"Right-o, but first check out the view." Reyn says.

Since we exited the cave in early morning, there is still fog around the area, but Reyn says that there is an awesome view of the Bionis and Mechonis if we wait a little bit. So we wait for about a few minutes. The fog clears a slight bit, and I see a peek of the dreaded Mechonis, the head slightly peeking out with the red lights illuminating it. I squint a slight bit and in that moment, the fog lifts and clears, the sword of the Mechonis looming over us, casting its shadow on our bodies, and the gears that it has for shoulders.

"Wow..." Shulk says, in awe.

I simply open my mouth, agape with how large this place is.

"No matter how many times I see this, I'll never get used to it." Reyn says.

The three of us then grit our teeth slightly on seeing the second Titan, the Titan that has caused us so much pain and suffering throughout these three days that I have known Shulk, Reyn and this world.

"On the other side of these clouds..." Shulk says, his voice trailing off.

"Yes." Reyn says with conviction. "It's our enemy. The Mechonis."

Shulk grits his teeth and says, "Our enemy...", he also clenches his fists.

We stand there for immeasurable time, until Shulk fastens his red jacket a slight bit and we move.

 _Why do I have a feeling that we are being watched?_ I ask myself, as we ponder our next moves.

"If we just came up the Bionis' shin..." Reyn says.

"Then, this has to be its kneecap, right?" Shulk says, slightly sceptical.

"Yes, after the shin is the kneecap." I say.

"That means that Colony 6 is right ahead!" Reyn exclaims excitedly.

"Oh! Look, there's a little mound! That's the place that the Defence Force soldier said that he hid something." Shulk exclaims.

The three of us dig coins out of the mound, where Shulk says, "This is 20,000 gold! We can get new clothes at the store right ahead."

We then climb up the vines that are hanging down the cliff, and then start walking through the canyon, until we see a shop. We get some wares, which when we change into them exclaim as they look like the same thing, except a different colour. Shulk is more purple, Reyn is more blue, and I have a different musketeer shirt, complete with yellow pants, a red shirt, and a helmet that looks like half of a gourd.

 _Hey, I remember a lot of history from my world. I know that this is one of the uniforms of some Spanish Musketeers! So, I think that every-time I sleep I remember another thing about the world that I am from!_ _At least I don't look like a Tercio musketeer._ I think with a slight smirk, remembering random uniforms of military outfits from the world I'm from. I also buy a sword that is more of a slasher than a stabber, it is less of a rapier, and more like a cuirassier sword.

Finishing with shopping, we head into Gaur Plains proper, where my mouth drops open, again, because of how big and beautiful it is. Upon entering, the first thing to note are the numerous animals, which look interesting as they have horns and brown armour on their backs. Another thing to note are the rolling hills through the plains, and in the background are two arches. Suddenly, Shulk and I are taken aback as there is smoke rising from the plain.

"Shulk, Augustine! Look over there!" Reyn shouts, while surveying the area.

"Smoke..." Shulk says.

"Rising, probably recent." I say, trying to deduce why there would be smoke there. "Is that in the general direction of Colony 6?"

"No, it's a lot farther. Hey, maybe it's a barbecue!" Reyn perks up.

"It's hardly a good spot for a barbecue!" Shulk dead pans. "Come on, let's take a look." He beckons to the two of us.

The three of us approach, and see an abandoned buggy that is there. Smoke is coming from the engine from the buggy.

"Someone's left a buggy out here." Reyn says.

"That's strange. Who would just abandon a buggy in this place? And it's pretty new." Shulk adds to the conversation.

"Are you sure it's pretty new? It looks pretty beat up to me." I reply.

"Besides the little dents it has because of the crash, it is in very good condition. It is something that you just would not abandon." Shulk says this with finality. "So, what happened to the driver?" He asks.

Shulk touches the buggy, and the two of us then have a vision. In the vision, I see a kid, no more than twelve or thirteen, running away from berserk animals with horns.

"There's a boy! Surrounded by monsters!" Shulk shouts, jolted from the vision. He turns to Reyn when he says this, and Reyn assumes a look of "Oh no."

"You saw it happening! Where?" Reyn replies with equal urgency.

"I don't know! But it was near some water." Shulk replies.

"I wonder if I can divine some more information..." I think about what are the ways that I had these visions. "Shulk, how do you get visions?"

"Now is not the time for that, let us first find the water that he is near." Shulk replies.

"Yeah, Shulk. How did you get that vision?" Reyn asks.

"I think it was triggered by me touching the buggy." He replies.

The three of us walk towards the first body of water to the right of the Canyon Pass, but we see that the kid isn't there, so then we run hurriedly to the other body of water to the left of the Canyon Pass, where we see the boy.

"Shulk, Augustine! Over there!" Reyn shouts.

The boy has tripped and the two animals are chasing him, Shulk, Reyn and I then run in to block their charge and drive them back.

"You all right, kid?" Reyn asks.

"Who are you?"

"That can wait! Get outta here! Leave these guys to us."

"Okay!"

"Let's do this!" Shulk shouts.

"Ready when you are!" Reyn replies, as the animal charges.

He runs away safe from the two animals while the three of us go into guard. I go into guard into my six, which is the low line and aiming towards the legs of the animal. It charges and I move to the side and then slash, cutting off one of its legs. Shulk activates the Monado and stabs through the same one, killing it. Reyn blocks the other one with his guarder, and then kills it with a hammer beat after punching it.

"That was easy!" Shulk shouts excitedly.

"All right!" Reyn says.

"Easier than I expected." I reply, narrowing my eyes and smirking slightly.

We pick the kid up and bring him to the buggy.

"So, is this your buggy?" I ask.

"Yes."

Shulk and I easily fix the buggy by fixing the circuit and then I repaired the front end a bit, by straightening it.

"I think it's time for the introductions. I'm Reyn. He's Shulk. He's Augustine." Reyn introduces us to the kid, who is slightly nervous.

"Oh… Hi! I'm Juju." The kid replies, shyly. He hesitates for a moment and thinks on what to say next. "Where are you three heading? If you've got time, you should come back to our camp!"

"Your camp?" Shulk asks.

"Yeah! It's not far." Juju replies.

"How about it?" Reyn says, excitedly.

"Let's take him up on the offer. I'm surprised there's a Homs camp here, but they might have some information." Shulk says.

"Yes, I'm pretty hungry. Let's go and visit." I say.

"Juju, can you tell us how to get there?" Shulk asks.

"Sure! If you go back to the oasis, you should see a tall stone post. Head there first."

"Then?"

"There's a small path in the woods next to the stone post. Just follow it down to our camp."

"Got it. Now, let's go!"

The three of us run to Gaur Plain turn right to the path that Juju is talking about, he lets us ride on the very little buggy, where we cram into the seat.

In a few very short minutes, we get to the camp, and we are greeted by a woman. She has tan skin, and raven hair, with brown eyes. She has a brown mole on the right side of her face and is about as tall as Shulk. She narrows her eyes on greeting. I also have to admit that this woman is attractive.

"Juju!" She shouts. "Where have you been?"

Immediately the Shulk and I have a vision. Juju is being taken by a Mechon tentacle, but on another tentacle the woman is tossed up into the air, and she falls into another one of the tentacles. It closes, with blue particles coming out. I shudder involuntarily.

"Don't tell me you were..." The woman goes and advances on Juju, hanging his head in shame. "I've told you a thousand times. We're not ready to leave the camp yet."

"But I thought..." Juju says, his voice going higher.

"Juju!" She scolds.

"Sorry, Sharla." He responds.

Sharla leans her head against Juju reassuringly, and then turns her attention to us.

"That gear. You must be survivors from the Defence Force! Except for that guy." pointing at me. Rushing up to Reyn, she asks questions, "Is Colony 6 okay? Did Gadolt make it?!"

"Hold on. What're you talking about?" Reyn asks.

"We've come from Colony 9, and maybe even other places than that." Shulk adds, looking in my direction.

"I think we can leave that conversation for level." I say. "Anyway, we've come from Colony 9."

"Colony 9?" Sharla asks.

"They saved me from some monsters. This is Reyn and Shulk." Juju adds.

"Oh..." Sharla says, deflating her excitement. "You three aren't from Colony 6." She looks down slightly sad. She recovers herself promptly, "Thank you for helping Juju. I'm his sister, Sharla."

"I told them that they can rest with us." Juju says. At this statement, Sharla appraises the three of us, seemingly checking if we are fit to live in a camp.

"Did you now?" Her tone is slightly harsh at this statement, and the three of us perk up. "Well, all right. I suppose that's only fair." All of us sigh at her statement. "What, did you think that I wouldn't let guys in? I wouldn't have if you didn't save Juju, but since you did, of course!"

"Did something happen? To Colony 6?" Reyn asks.

"Actually, we're heading over there ourselves." Shulk adds.

"Colony 6 has been..." Sharla stops, as if what she is about to say pains her. "Our home! It's been occupied by the Mechon."

"Guys, I thought Mechon only flew around and destroyed places, kind of like raiders." I say, kind of perplexed. I also wince because I said it slightly tactless.

"I'll tell you about it inside. Follow me." Sharla beckons us.

"Wait, so there's a Colony 6 and a Colony 9. Where are the other Homs Colonies?" I ask.

"There used to be ten colonies. The only ones that are left are Colony 6 and Colony 9." Sharla replies.

"What happened to the other ones?"

"The rest were probably destroyed by Mechon. It isn't talked about in history class that much because there are many children, at least in my time, that had parents and siblings in these lost colonies."

"Oh."

We walk along the path, as I see the numbers of people who are there along the sides, waiting, or looking after their children. A few of them run past us, picking up some of the fruits in the trees, but besides the children basically everybody seems unhappy, no, sullen.

 _These people probably have known better times._ I think to myself.

"Sharla, what is this place?" Shulk asks, even though I thought to myself that this place is obvious, considering there is something like an escape ship waiting on the small pond that is outside the caves.

"It's a refugee camp."

We look at each other, not knowing what to say to Sharla, as I have a feeling that Shulk and Reyn are thinking about what would have happened if Colony 9 was overrun. We then walk into the cave where Sharla sits us down and tells us her story.

"We already had fought off the Mechon a year ago, in the Battle of Sword Valley. It left us with a false sense of security, as we thought all the Mechon had been killed." We nod at this statement, as it is the same thing that Dickson had already told us. "The Colony 6 Defence Force didn't even notice the approaching Mechon. By the time the air-raid alarm had sounded, a swarm of Mechon had blackened the sky. They ate people, and burned our buildings." We have flashbacks of the attack on Colony 9 and we grimace. "Juju and I dedicated ourselves to evacuating the children and the elderly. I don't know what happened next."

"It's exactly what happened in Colony 9." Shulk says.

"What?! They attacked your colony too?!

"Yes. It's good that you managed to evacuate so many." Shulk replies.

"We have Otharon… the Colonel… to thank for that. Him and Gadolt." Sharla says.

"This Gadolt..." Reyn says, with his voice trailing off.

"He would have been my husband by now if not for all of this." Sharla replies.

We look dumbfounded because one, Sharla says this pretty nonchalantly, two because, well, who wouldn't be.

"My condolences." I say.

"Cheer up you two." She says, reassuringly. We get out of out torpor and then slightly smile.

"Er..." Reyn says, completely 180'd upon.

"What?" I say.

"Hmm?" Shulk grunts.

"We can't lose hope just yet! I'm certain that Gadolt and the other soldiers are alive. They're fighting. I believe it!" Sharla says with conviction.

"Erm..." Juju says, apparently trying to make conversation with us.

Shulk makes a quizzical sound, and we look at him with narrowed eyes.

"You're on the way to Colony 6, right?" He says, and we look at him with a slight smile.

"You bet! We're up for some revenge, bashing some of those metal suckers. I betcha we can even get your colony back!" Reyn boasts, enthusiastically.

"There you go showing off again..." Shulk says, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Hey, I've been saving you two since the beginning of the adventure!" I say, teasing. "I mean, we wouldn't be here if Shulk got killed by an overgrown caterpillar, right?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" We laugh, diffusing the tension in the room by a lot. Even some of the survivors crack a smile at my joke.

"Wow! If anyone can do it, it's the three of you! Augustine seems so awesome with a sword! Reyn is great with that gun lance, almost better than a lot of people in the Defence Force, and Shulk has that sword, which allows him to see things in the future!" Juju says, excitedly. "Could...um… Could you take me with you to the colony?" He asks this apprehensively.

Sharla cuts in before either of us can answer, "Juju! The people here need us! How many times do I need to tell you?"

"But you heard! The Mechon attacked Colony 9, and that means that a load of them must've left already Colony 6! It has to."

"Juju, the enemy probably has more forces than we have at this point." I interject.

"Augustine's right, even if the fact that many of them have left Colony 6 is true, no, especially if the fact is true we cannot expose the people in the refugee camp to any more danger." Sharla continues.

"So you don't care what happens to the people in the colony?!" Juju shouts with bewilderment. "How can you be so heartless?! Are you that scared of the Mechon?!"

Suddenly Shulk and I have a vision, where it becomes slightly clearer. The Mechon is tentacled, instead of one with a face. Surrounded by flames, the tentacle holds both Sharla and Juju, both struggling for their lives. The tentacles close, which I assume kills them. Then, a bronze Mechon with a face comes, looking nothing like Metal Face. It ends.

"Kid!" Reyn scolds.

"Reyn..." Juju answers, nervously.

"You oughta know how Sharla feels. Watch your mouth and have some respect." He scolds Juju, while he looks down at the ground.

"I'll go and make dinner." Juju says.

"Maybe I was too hard on him." Reyn says.

"I don't exactly remember my parents because of the fact that I can't remember that much, but Reyn, you may have jumped the gun a slight bit." I say.

"Well, Reyn, you really remind me of Gadolt when you get angry." Sharla says, slightly laughing.

"I do?" Reyn asks, as I slightly smirk near the two of them, sensing maybe a later relationship if Gadolt does not get found.

"Gadolt's taken care of us since we were young. I always saw him as a big brother really, but he was more of a father to Juju..." Her voice trails off, remembering good times. "He'd call him 'kid' whenever he told him off, just like you did."

"I don't think I'm ready to be someone's old man just yet..." Reyn says, slightly joking. He turns to me, as I furrow my brows deep in thought.

"Guys? Did it happen again?" Reyn asks in a hushed tone.

"Yes."

"We both had a vision." The two of us say. Right then, we hear a humming coming from outside, then hear an unmistakable sound as a buggy's engine starts up and leaves.

"Oh no!" Shulk exclaims, surprised that Juju would do such a stupid thing.

"No! Juju!" Sharla shouts.

We hurry outside of the cave, while the rest of the refugees look interested.

"Do you know where he went?" I ask.

"Hom-Hom went that way." A little Nopon says.

We hear the buggy, but don't see the driver, or the buggy.

"The buggy's gone! He's going to Colony 6 on his own!" Sharla exclaims, bereft with desperation, and starts to run after him.

"Sharla! Stop!" I say, she turns to face the three of us. "We need to think this through."

"We have to hurry! Something bad is going to happen if we don't hurry." Shulk says. "There's no time for thinking."

"I beg to differ." I reply.

"Whether or not, you two are ready, I'll be going." Sharla says, and she storms out to the path.

"What did you see?" Reyn asks Shulk, as I see Sharla stop ahead and watch us converse.

"A deep valley… Everything is engulfed in flames… There is a black shadow… It kills Juju." Shulk says with a low voice.

"Same thing, because I have a feeling that we have different 'visions'." I reply.

"Is it the Mechon with the metal face?" Reyn asks.

"Yes." Shulk replies.

"No." I say. "I think the Mechon is different."

"You might have had another vision, maybe one in the future." Shulk says, looking pensively.

"We had the same vision until then, why would it change now?" I reply.

"Good point." Reyn says. "Well, we won't know until we find out. Anyway, where do you think he is? Near Colony 6?"

"I'm not sure, I don't think so, though." Shulk replies.

"It's in some kind of spiral thing." I say.

We begin to go to the path, but Sharla stops us.

"Hold on a second! What was that all about?" She asks us.

"I know you won't believe this, but Augustine and Shulk can see the future." Reyn says, fully believing in what he says.

"The future? That's not possible." She says.

"When you're an amnesiac who knows more about the future than you know about the past, then I think you can see the future." I reply.

"I thought it was impossible too. I still can't explain this." Shulk says.

"So, Juju's in danger." Sharla asks.

"Even without these visions, I still would assume he's in danger." I reply.

Sharla still looks sceptical at the three of us.

"Believe it, or don't believe it, that's your call. But I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for their visions." Reyn says.

"Juju..." Sharla says, head hung low in thought. "Okay, I can't say that I believe you, but what have I got to lose?"

"I like the way you think!" Reyn says.

"Sharla, your..." Shulk says, before he cuts off.

"What?" Sharla asks, as I glare at him as I think he should tell her.

"No, nothing." He says.

"What're we waiting for?" Reyn asks. "Let's go off and find Juju!"

"When you talk like that, you sound almost like Gadolt! That's how I know that it's not worth arguing." Sharla replies.

"What am I, some kind of Gadolt substitute?" Reyn asks, slightly bewildered.

"Leave it to Reyn to give you the cheek!" I say.

The three of us walk forwards, but Shulk stays backwards and looks pensively. I wonder what he is thinking, but he sees me and we continue on.

A few minutes into running so that we can catch up with the buggy, we hear screaming from the waterfall.

"HELP! VOLFF!" We hear.

We then run at breakneck pace to the waterfalls out of the way of the bridge to cross, and we see a woman. She lays there, helpless, while four animals come growling. Shulk activates the Monado, while Sharla hangs back, and pulls the rifle off of her back, I draw my sword, and Reyn uses his gun lance. Immediately, she drops one of the volffs with a shot, and Reyn drops another one, slashing his face off, blood dripping from the gun lance.

"I'm a healer, but I still am pretty good with a rifle." She says.

"All right! I always get roughed up, so you'll be a big help." Reyn replies while running to one of the other volffs.

Shulk draws animosity from one of the other volffs, but I keep it back with a kick, as I remember than I like to toy with my opponents before finishing them off. The other one centres on me, and I tell Shulk, "Let him have it!"

Shulk immediately slashes with the Monado, which basically cleaves their bodies in two, cauterising their bodies. Reyn and I look at the two dead volffs, and say, "Man, I think that's the worst way to die now."

We approach the woman, who basically says thank you, and we also got a little bit of gold.

Continuing along the path, we get to Kamos Guidepost, where we hold up for a bit.

"Sharla, do you know which way Juju went?" Shulk asks.

"There are quite a few ways to get to Colony 6 from here. But he's in a buggy, so I'm expecting he went through Raguel Bridge." She replies.

"Raguel Bridge?" Shulk asks.

"It's not far. It's a really old bridge, it's as old as Colony 9." Sharla informs us.

"Okay, let's go and make our next stop." Shulk announces.

We set off to the end of Gaur Plain, and end up near some huge things under a natural bridge.

"What is that thing?" Reyn asks.

"It's a torta." Sharla replies.

"What's a torta?"

"You know those little turtles that live near ponds? There are a lot near the Refugee Camp, I'll show you once we save Juju. Tortas, are actually fairly friendly to us Homs."

We keep running until we reach a place where we can see the bridge. On the bridge is Juju's buggy, crashed against the side. Sharla scans to the right, and sees more Mechon guarding the bridge.

"More Mechon? Why are they here?" She asks.

"Don't worry, we're all still sure that Juju is alive and okay, but en garde everyone. We need to get rid of these Mechon if we are to get over the bridge in one piece."

Sharla gets to the back, while I pull out my bow, Shulk and Reyn go near and Reyn goes and distracts one of the Mechon.

"Everyone! Let's go!" Shulk shouts, while he activates the Monado and enchants the four of us, surrounding our bodies with a characteristic purple light.

"To victory!" I say.

Sharla and I stay back and loads her rifle, while I draw my bow, and fire an arrow at one of the Mechon.

"What?!" I say when the arrow cuts through the Mechon, but doesn't stop it.

"Concentrate on its eyes!" Sharla says. "That's where its processor chip is."

"It's pretty hard right now with this one advancing on me!"

Sharla smiles, and simply looks down the sight, where she fires at one of the eyes and immediately drops one of the Mechon. It explodes in a blue mist.

"Sharpshooter Sharla!" Reyn says, in awe of what has happened.

Reyn charges and then cuts the bottom of one of the Mechon's faces. It isn't disabled so I lend a hand and fire an arrow near the eyes, where it hits and drops it.

Shulk sees another Mechon and says, "Get that M64!" as another Mechon like Reyn comes. He dodges it and then swipes the legs, where they give out and it gets dropped.

"It's the last one!" Shulk shouts, pointing to another Mechon that looks like an egg with a scythe. I rush over there, smirking at its pathetic attempt to defend itself and then bisect the Mechon right down the middle, where its weapon is.

"I'm on fire! Sharla, did you see me? Did you see what I did?!" Reyn asks.

"Oh! I, uh, wasn't looking." Sharla replies.

"Aw, come on. That's not fair." Reyn replies.

Shulk and I laugh when he says that.

We then move on to the bridge, where we see the buggy.

"Let's test our hypothesis." I say. "We need to see if the visions are triggered by touching things. The buggy is right there, I'll touch it first to see if I can have visions."

I touch the buggy, but Shulk and I don't have a vision.

"Umm, anytime guys." Sharla says.

Shulk touches the buggy and the both of us have a vision.

Juju is surrounded by these tentacles, in a deep valley that is probably nearby as there is no indication of any civilization. That means that we are not near Colony 6. The tentacles then go underneath the ground, and then goes up through the ground which lunges at Juju, the vision then goes black.

"So, you get visions, and I have modifications of that vision?" I ask Shulk.

"Seems like it."

"Is he okay?! Is Juju okay?!" Sharla asks, while the two of us hesitate to answer her, fearing the worst will happen.

"There's a Mechon… It's taken Juju!" Shulk says.

"When?!" Reyn asks.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think that we've got much time." I reply.

"You saw a deep valley, didn't you?" Sharla asks.

"Yes." The two of us reply.

"There's a place exactly like that just ahead! It's on the way to Colony 6. That must be the way that Juju is taking." Sharla says.

"You sure? No other deep valleys around here?" Reyn asks.

"Not as far as I know." She replies.

"Let's go!" I say.

We run through Raguel Bridge, where Sharla says to stay to the right of the bridge, where she points out extremely dangerous monsters on the other side.

"Those are called gogols. You need to be extremely skilled to kill them. We don't have the weapons or the skill to kill them right now." Sharla says.

"I beg to differ!" Reyn replies.

"I'm not kidding, these guys can take out armies, they almost took out an entire refugee party when we were scouting." She turns back to him and puts her hands on her hips.

"Okay. Are there anything on the right?" Reyn inquires, while Shulk looks at him and they run.

"Yes, down under the bridge, there are these bunnits that are almost as strong as the gogols. Even in the water there are fish that can easily kill you. But on the little islands on the bottom there is just White Eduardo, which is easily killed. Actually some of the survivors want us to kill that."

"Let's do that later." Sharla says.

We keep running up the road until we got to some Mechon.

"We can't take them on all at once." I say.

"Let's lure them." Shulk says, as he gets a stone on the ground. We go to one of the groups and then he throws it at an M53. He doesn't enchant us, so we stay back, where he uses Monado Buster on a line of Mechon.

"Wow." I say in awe.

"The power of the Monado!" Shulk replies, as he has destroyed one group of the Mechon.

We quickly dispatch the four other groups of Mechon, and then we rush to Spiral Valley, as we see the tentacled Mechon, already having Juju in its grasp.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII: Juju!

"Ahhh!" Juju shouts, a tentacle grabbing hold of him. "HELP! HELP! Someone! Anyone! Save me!"

"Juju! Hold on! I'm coming!" Sharla shouts, while she runs up the valley.

"Wait! Sharla!" Shulk shouts, knowing what will happen to her. She keeps running, either not hearing Shulk, or not caring enough.

I then see a vision where Sharla gets knocked over by a tentacle, and shortly after gets eaten by one of the other tentacles.

 _How will we save her?_ I ask myself.

"Juju!" Sharla shouts, not knowing of the dangers that lurk beneath the ground.

Suddenly, a Shulk shouts, and hits the Monado with a mighty "thunk" on the ground. At the same moment, the four of us have a blue field that wafts around us. I look up as Sharla dodges the tentacle with ease. Shulk, in a literal blink of an eye, closes a ten meter distance and bisects the Mechon tentacle.

"Shulk?!" Sharla asks, her mouth agape with amazement, as the Reyn and I try our best to make a wall, boxing her in.

"Its tentacles could come out from under the ground at any second. One false move, and you're done for." Shulk says, as one of the tentacles feints towards us. "Wait for my order! Guys, do you have my back?" Shulk asks, as he enchants us.

"'Course we do! Augustine, Sharla, leave it to me!" Reyn replies.

Shulk charges at the Mechon, while the rest of us break formation and pick our targets. In a vision, I see Shulk getting burned by a Mechon tentacle in the background, but I get sliced by one of the tentacles. Back in the present, I dodge the tentacle, and then cut of the "head" of the tentacle. I see that Shulk is able to dodge his attacks, and he also cuts off his tentacle. Reyn runs past the tentacles coming through the ground, then hits the Mechon in the middle, and Sharla fires her rifle at the tentacles near her head. We again assume the box formation, of Sharla in the middle, Shulk and I flanking, and then Reyn bringing the lead.

"Amazing! I didn't know you could do that!" Sharla breathes.

"It's not me, it's the power of the Monado!" Shulk says.

"That's right. And the light that's swirling around us… That's the Monado 'n all." Reyn replies.

"We have increased powers too." I say. "With this, let's go and make this Mechon scrap metal! For revenge on Colony 6!"

We all shout our battle cries as we go into battle with the tentacles, as Shulk says they are the most dangerous part of the Mechon. I have a vision of me being baked by one of the tentacles, where it nearly kills me. Seeing this, I tell Shulk to enchant our weapons, as the enchant is running out. He does that, and I dodge the tentacle and cut off the tip of the tentacle in one swipe. Sharla shoots the main body of the Mechon, but does nothing, Shulk finishes one of the other tentacles, Reyn blocks Sharla from one of the tentacles, then ripostes destroying it. I do the finishing blow against its head, but the sword doesn't penetrate all the way through, it stops.

"Is it down?!" Reyn asks, breathing.

But then, incredibly, the Mechon reactivates and uses the tentacles to grab a rocky overhang, which it uses to pull up.

"Get your arse back over here!" I shout.

"It's up there! We need to go after it!" Shulk says, deactivating the Monado, while we run up the slope of the canyon.

"Let's go!" Sharla shouts, beckoning to Reyn.

We get to the top, but it seems like that there isn't any damage on the Mechon.

"Did the arms regenerate or something?" I ask.

"Yes, Mechon M71s regenerate." Shulk replies. "We were able to use that technology on some of the new weapons."

"Enough talk about that! Let's fight!" Reyn says.

"Oh, right."

"You know what, you three distract them, I go straight for the superstructure and then cut him." Shulk says. "I think, I'll save the Monado buster for right now."

Reyn makes the animosity of the Mechon centre on him, which Shulk takes advantage of and finally uses a Monado Buster, which destroys the Mechon forever.

Reyn then runs in and gets Juju, before the Mechon bursts apart. Sharla goes near Juju and hugs him.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" She says, tears streaming down her cheeks as she embraces him extremely tight. "I promise that nothing else will happen to you!"

"Hey! Looks like we changed the future!" Reyn remarks.

"More than I think we bargained for." I respond.

"What you mean?" Reyn asks.

"Augustine is right, that isn't the Mechon from our visions." Shulk says, his eyebrows furrowed in thought, as he does many times before.

"Yeah, weren't it supposed to be the one with the face. I guess we changed more than we expected!" he says excitedly. "Augustine, Shulk?" he asks, as the two of us are pensive.

"That means that our enemies must've changed their future too." I say.

"Exactly, something's not right." Shulk replies to my statement.

We look pensive and at the sky until we hear a humming noise. Shulk, Reyn and I look at each other as we are wondering what is that noise. Suddenly a large bug-like thing flies overhead. It has incredibly thick arms, unlike the other Mechon. It unfolds and lands, with a crash and draws a huge hammer.

"Juju!" Sharla shouts, holding him closer to her.

"No! It's not him at all!" Shulk shouts as the large Mechon unfolds. It has more of a copper with gold trim than a black with gold trim and red lines are scattered along its body.

It opens its face, complete with a jaw that is divided into an indescribable "beard".

"This one's got a face 'n' all!" Reyn remarks, apparently shocked that there is more than one Mechon with a face.

"I've been waiting for you, Monado boy..." If the face on the Mechon could move, it would probably show contempt for the four of us. We recoil at the words.

"What? It spoke!" Shulk says, surprised.

Sharla picks up her gun and joins the three of us, but the Mechon takes a menacing step forward, which makes us back up, all of us making a protective formation against Juju.

"The way Metal Face scarpered, I thought you would have this big scary monster." He laughs, and Shulk activates the Monado. "But look, you're just some pathetic little kid."

I draw my sword, inflamed at this comment. Seeing this, Shulk activates the Monado, Reyn takes the gun lance off of his back and Sharla draws her rifle. We charge at the monster.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Reyn asks.

"This is the only way." Shulk replies.

Shulk enchants us, but when we swipe at the Bronze Face Mechon our weapons bounce off, even the legendary Monado bounces off, just like last time.

"FEELS LIKE A FLY BIT ME!" He shouts, taunting the four of us. He then swipes the hammer at us, which makes us retreat. Reyn uses his guard shift and deflects some of the blow off.

"Guys, round from the front, I'll take the back!" Shulk says.

"Right-o!" Reyn replies.

We try and keep the animosity on our front, but all the shots that Sharla tries to make miss, and Shulk's slashes have no effect on the Mechon, as he dodges them anyway. We grimace and retreat, but in our hubris we see that we have unsuccessfully not defended Juju. He rounds on Juju and then grasps him with his metallic hand, while we grimace. I charge and then slice at the arm, hoping that it would do something.

"Ha ha, look at the widdle Hom. He thinks his sword can hurt me! Ha ha!" He taunts, showing Juju off to the rest of us.

"Can we topple him?" Reyn asks, suddenly remembering what happened in Colony 9, where Shulk's opening to climb on him then stabbed Metal Face in the head.

"Doesn't seem like it, when we go for a coordinated attack, it dodges many of them." Shulk replies.

"You're forgetting something..." the Mechon taunts.

"Juju!" Sharla shouts.

"You pile of junk! Let him go!" Reyn shouts.

Right then, many more Mechon drop from the sky, apparently taking the jump on us. Thankfully they are regular Mechon.

"Reyn, Sharla, you two take the Mechon on our back. Shulk and I will take the faced Mechon." I say, beckoning to Reyn and Sharla.

"Cheers, Shulk!" Reyn says cheerfully.

"You little..." The Mechon says, its voice trailing off with anger.

I see Reyn and Sharla destroying the Mechon, while Shulk and I keep banging at the Mechon, doing basically nothing.

"Shulk, we need help!" Reyn shouts.

"Do you hear that pipsqueak? Looks like you guys aren't strong enough for a fight against me and my friends! Ha ha ha ha ha!" the faced Mechon shouts. It redoubles its efforts and swings its hammer at us, but Shulk dodges, and hits one of the legs.

"Why? Why can't I use the Monado?!" He seethes with clenched teeth. "It's only the ones that have faces!"

"Good thing that we can still see things." I say to him, while we dodge another hammer swing. I dart under the swing, jump, and then hit one of the arms, but the sword bounces off.

"Nice tricks you got there, pipsqueaks! Dodging, and darting around the place! That's the Monado's power?" he laughs at this statement, and the four of us wince. "Won't matter, you're still flesh and blood, and I reckon you're nearly done!"

More Mechon come and land, but Reyn and Sharla quickly dispatch them, but the increasing taunts of the Faced Mechon makes me think that he has an ace up his sleeve.

"Shulk, leave these Mechon to me! You two take him out!" Reyn shouts.

We charge, and I see a vision that Shulk is going to be punched, and it will incapacitate him. Apparently Shulk doesn't see that, and I block the punch, Shulk shocked because his vision wasn't of the punch, it was the Mechon kicking Sharla. Luckily the future changed enough that the Mechon swings his hammer at Shulk, but Sharla prevents that by shooting the hammer, which apparently had enough force to stop the hammer in its tracks.

"Sharpshooter Sharla!" Reyn shouts, amazed again.

"Now!" Sharla shouts, seeing that there is a lull in the non-faced Mechon attack, and Reyn charges with his driver, but it's no use.

"It's bouncing off of 'im!" Reyn shouts.

The Mechon then rises into the air, and then taunts us again.

"That was fun for a while… But now I'm bored!" He flies down and slams the hammer on the ground, sending a wave that sends all of us back.

"Sharla!" Juju shouts.

I look up and the only thing that I see is Sharla's hand that is on the cliff edge, I assume that she is dangling off of the edge of the cliff, as I can't see her.

I stand up, but the Faced Mechon again raises his hammer, there is no way I can block his attack.

"Augustine! Look out!" Shulk says, but the faced Mechon stops its attack.

"Looks like my time here's up. It's your lucky day, little kids! But that won't last forever." The face says. Showing Juju to the group he says, "I'll keep ahold of this brat. If you want him you'd better go to Colony 6, but you'll have to be quick… I'm feeling hungry!" it continues.

"You! You're gonna pay!" Reyn shouts as the Faced Mechon flies away.

"I can't wait to grind you all into dust!" It shouts, I grimace at it, but it doesn't see my face.

"Sharla! Sharla! No!" Juju shouts, still in the clutches of that fiend.

Sharla pulls herself over the ledge, panting, her hair matted over her face, and both of her knees scraped. She is nearly passed out from the effort.

"Juju..." She pants, and passes out.

"Is she okay?" I ask Reyn.

"I hope she is." Reyn replies. Shulk lightly heals her, and tells the two of us to check for other injuries. The light heal mends the scrapes on her knees.

I carry her feet, while Reyn carries her head, and checking for other injuries, there aren't any other injuries on her body, so we make the decision to move her back to the Refugee Camp.

Thirty minutes later, we get her to a bed and then ponder our next decision after seeing the other refugees asking about what happened to the leader.

"Excuse me, what happened to Sharla, do you know why she is knocked out?" A man named Ewan asks me.

"Well…" I pause and look at Shulk to see if I should go on or not. He nods. "On the way to save Juju, she got knocked out by a Mechon attack."

He gasps, "Are they coming here?!"

"No. Thankfully they are gone from the area, but they are going back to Colony 6."

"Augustine!" Reyn and Shulk shout at me. "You're supposed to give these people hope!"

"Sorry." I reply.

"Man, while you are pretty smart, you seem to have worse 'social-itis' than Shulk over here." Reyn says. All of us, including Ewan laugh at Reyn statement.

"Anyway, Ewan, what would you like us to do?" Shulk asks.

"You should wait for Sharla, she knows the secret ways into Colony 6. I don't remember because I was in the Defence Force a very long time ago." He replies.

"There's a secret way into Colony 6?" I ask.

"Yes, but I forget where. I remember that our drill instructor made us go through there once."

We thank Ewan for giving us the information, but he also tells us that he needs ponio neck meat. We accept his request and then talk about what we are to do next.

"So, do you think we are strong enough to take on that Mechon? Do you think that we can leaver Sharla alone here?" I ask. "I saw the map and Colony 6 is about one day walk from here, or about a ten hour jog."

"Nah, I get roughed up a lot and I think it would be better if we had an ether user around here." Reyn replies.

"True, I think it is better if we have more than one healer. You for little bruises, and Sharla for other injuries. How about Juju, we need to save him." I reply.

Reyn grits his teeth, makes a grimace and rolls his shoulder at my statement. Shulk sighs and looks out at the rain pouring outside of the cave.

 _I wonder if rolling his shoulder means that he will be fighting soon?_ I ask myself.

"So, Shulk, being the impromptu leader of this group, would you want to leave Sharla behind or continue with her?" I ask.

"We should continue with her. Dunban says that strength in numbers is one of the best strengths there are." Shulk replies, taking a word of wisdom from the man.

"Hmm, what is the strength that beats it?" I ask him.

"Quality." He replies.

"Wow, the age old adage has a place in this world too." I muse, Shulk chortles at my statement. "So what do we do waiting for Sharla?"

"You know what we should do? We should practise against each other." Shulk replies. "I would like to see how good you are at sparring. I brought my Junk Sword for this case."

"Good."

We go out of the cave while Reyn watches from the side. I stand in an en garde position, while Shulk goes into his regular stance. I step to the right, he steps to the left and we two engage in a slight test. I beat his blade slightly, and he widely swings his blade, trying to block my blade. I then retreat a step, slightly toying with him. His eyes are on my blade, which is not a good sign for him.

He tries to use a break art on me, but I use a simple septime parry as I push the Junk Sword to the outside. I then riposte, and my sword ends up right next to his neck.

"You look too much at my blade." I tell Shulk. "Who taught you?"

"Wow, you sound exactly like Dunban. He tells me to feel the enemy, not look at the enemy. He told Reyn the same thing, but it is nigh-impossible to get past his gun lance."

"I'll see him next." I reply.

"Wow Shulk! You got beat in literally five minutes! I've never seen you that beat since you fought one of the Defence Force Lieutenants!" Reyn is on the floor laughing. The two of join the laughing.

"You fight him!" Shulk says, laughing.

"All right!" Reyn replies.

Shulk sits on the sideline, while I go against Reyn. Immediately he uses the gun lance offensively, charging at me. I sidestep his attack, as he is trying to topple me, and then parry the lance part of the gun lance.

"Reyn! You can't topple him! He isn't broken! Remember what Dunban said!" Shulk shouts at Reyn.

Reyn slashes with the lance part and I parry with the forte. His second attack doesn't hit. We separate from each other, retreating a few steps. The tension is high in the air as we circle around, and Reyn charges. I try to dodge, but he hits me in the stomach with a punch, which knocks the wind out of me and then topples me with his shield.

"Whew! I give up!" I say.

"Wow Reyn! You… you beat Augustine!" Shulk says, amazed.

"Man! Am I good or am I good?" Reyn says, clearly happy.

"Yeah, you should teach me how to use a gun lance, or a regular lance." I reply to Reyn.

"I'll teach you once we find Juju." He replies.

"We should also keep planning the Juju breakout." I say, sheathing my sword and stringing up my bow.

"I wonder how long it takes for someone to come around from exhaustion. Did she drink water?" Shulk asks.

"Yes, we gave her water. So maybe in three more hours or so." Reyn replies.

The time passes by fast, as we practice the rest of our arts. I beat Reyn only once, even though every time I sparred against Shulk I won.

 _It's because of his style_ I think in my head.

Suddenly we hear a stirring from the cage.

"Hey, she's up!" One of the refugees say.

"Where are they?" Sharla asks the refugee.

"They're outside."

"The sleeping princess awakes!" Reyn says enthusiastically. "You had us worried there for a little bit. Especially when we brought you back."

"How long have I been out?" She asks.

"Huh?" Reyn asks.

"She means, how long was she unconscious." Shulk says.

"Oh, about four hours." Reyn replies.

"I've gotta get out of here!" She says, trying to run out, but we stop her.

"Hold up!" Reyn says.

"We'd love for you to come with us!" Shulk says. "We're going to bust into their base. We want to have a piece of them too.

"Truth be told, we were so eager that we were going to leave without you. But Shulk said that we need another ether user as we get roughed up a lot, and Shulk can only heal light injuries. We don't know anyone else who can use ether." I say.

"I… Thank you." Sharla says.

We walk outside of the Camp, but Sharla stops and then says something.

"It's been a while… And it's just… I never imagined I would go back to Colony 6 like this." Sharla says. We hang our heads, but Sharla follows up and says, "Sorry… I just lost myself for a minute."

The four of us move out, for Colony 6 or death…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter IX: Tonight, Our Main Course Will be You!

The three of us walk to conserve energy as we traverse Gaur Plains, passing by Raguel Bridge with Juju's buggy still on there. Sharla keeps her head down the entire trip as we walk and jog to Colony 6. It is a quiet trip, as Shulk and I don't try to engage in conversation, but Reyn tries anyway.

"So… uh… What will we do when we get to Colony 6?" Reyn asks Sharla, slightly unsure of what to ask.

"We try to find Juju, then we save him." Sharla replies through gritted teeth.

I bite my lip to keep myself from laughing as Reyn awkwardly tries to make conversation with Sharla, although I stop laughing by thinking to myself that these people are friends, and I don't want to lose them by laughing at misfortune.

 _Hey, it can't hurt to laugh at someone's misfortune sometimes. It is a human reflex after all._ One side of my mind justifies.

 _And, it won't hurt to lose all your friends and let them abandon you in the wilderness._ The other side of my mind retorts back, and I involuntarily grimace at hearing this.

"How far are we from Colony 6?" I ask Sharla, as we pass by Kasharpa Falls and see a huge cave.

"Oh, we just need to go through the cave, but seeing that the sun is falling, we should probably stop and rest." Sharla replies.

 _She isn't wrong_. _We left at nearly 16:00 due to the fact that_ _we fought the monster, and we've been travelling for about six hours. It should be about 22:00, and we'll get to Colony 6 late in the morning, or in the early afternoon._

"So, who gets first watch?" Sharla asks.

"Well, there aren't that many Mechon in the area, there are just wild animals, so Sharla you should take first watch. Next Reyn, then Augustine and lastly I should." Shulk says.

"Okay, three hour shifts." I reply, spreading out a bedroll.

I then, exhausted from all of the walking, fall asleep.

" _Looks like I beat you from first place...again.", a woman says, playfully smirking at me,_ _off of a strip. I sigh, annoyed,_ _seeing as I again silver medalled in_ _the Fencing World Championships,_ _and see that she, has gotten gold, for the second time. I remind myself that she has been fencing for 14 years, while I have been doing it for 10 years, so she is technically 4 years my senior in this sport._

 _"Well, if I have been fencing as long as you..." I say, but she cuts in._

 _"If. If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs-" she says, quoting Kipling's "If", but I cut her off and smirk._

 _"Then again, age before beauty." I say, jesting at her._

 _"Looks like you won that one, then again, I am about one month older than you."_

 _"So do you want to do anything? Seeing that next week is possibly the last week that we are on the Earth."_

 _"You slightly realise that going home from this Championship might probably kill us, seeing as tomorrow we are going on an aeroplane, and right after that a car, which is statistically less safe." she replies jokingly._

 _"Well, I would like to think that we are going to live before we go through the gate." I say._

 _"I hope so too."_

 _Suddenly the scene shifts, and I see a small Mechon that looks like a robot. Behind me is a large Golden Mechon, probably the I've ever seen here. It has a tail, green eyes, and the face looks like a skull, a green gem menacingly perched on top._

 _The small Mechon that looks like a robot looks more of like a knight from the 16th century, except in black armour._

 _It charges and fights me, but in the vision I nearly die, which makes me fall to the ground, and it turns on the rest of the group. I shout their names, but when I get to Shulk suddenly…_

"Augustine!" Sharla shouts, shaking me awake. "Augustine!" she shouts again, and I go out of my bedroll, cold sweat around me. "Are you okay?"

Shulk and Reyn approach me carefully, while Sharla puts a hand on my shoulder reassuringly.

"Are you okay?" Reyn asks me. "What happened? You woke us up because apparently it seemed like you was having a nightmare."

"Yes, I heard you shouting, 'Dunban! Reyn! Shulk! Look out!' What was happening?" Shulk replies to Reyn.

"I… I don't remember my dream, but I remember slightly what I was before I got here." I reply.

"Well… that's good. But what were you dreaming about?" Sharla asks. "I'm a Medic, remember? I don't think it is that healthy for you to be sleeping this late, or to be this stressed."

"Okay mum." I say, jokingly, and she chortles at this statement. "Wait, I remember something. There is a Mechon, that is more the size of a Homs, wherever we are going."

"How did it look like?" Sharla asks.

"Black armour is the only thing I remember." I say.

"Interesting..." Shulk replies.

"Anyway, what time is it?" I ask.

"About 1:00. I was about to switch off and give the post to Reyn." She replies.

"Okay, I'll try to go back to sleep." I go back into the bedroll, roll over and then sleep.

"It's time to walk." Sharla says.

I wake up, get my sword, and go eat breakfast with Shulk, Reyn and Sharla.

"So, ready to go to Colony 6?" I ask.

"Of course I'm ready to go home." Sharla says.

"Let's go." Shulk and Reyn say at the same time smiling at each other.

"Let's not waste any time then." Sharla says.

After getting the rest of our weapons and putting out the fire that we used to cook our breakfast with, we jog through the cave and get to Colony 6 proper.

We see a menacing view, a fortified wall that rises out of the horizon as black as a shadow. It takes the four of us off guard as we see how different it is in reality, rather than in our imaginations.

"This is Colony 6?" Shulk asks, in awe of the structure.

"It's like a fortress. Did people really live here?" Reyn asks.

"So much has changed…" Sharla sighs, and closes her eyes, probably remembering old times. "It's only been a month."

"Reyn, pe- I mean Homs can live in fortresses," I say to Reyn.

"What, they can? Anyway let's enter! We'll find Juju, then smash some metal brains!" Reyn says, rolling his arm.

He starts walking, but Shulk stops him but holding his shoulder. "Wait! We can't just rush in."

"We could enter through the mine." Sharla says.

"So that's the secret entrance that a guy named Ewan was talking about earlier." I say.

"Well, it's not secret, and it's not an entrance." Sharla replies to me.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"One, it's a mine. It doesn't connect to the inside of that fortress, but it exits on another side."

"So, what does it mine?"

"Ether. There's a massive ether deposit under the colony. Actually, there are some people who worked on a small ether furnace that can refine crystals, though they didn't bring it when they escaped."

"So, do ya think there are any survivors in the ether mines?"

"Of course! The mine is a network of tunnels, it is much more complicated than the colony streets. They can't have figured it all out in the span of a month," Sharla answers Reyn with a heated tone. She then backs off after she realises how harsh her tone is.

"So…" Reyn says.

"She means it's the best route if we want to remain unseen," Shulk replies to Reyn.

 _Come on man, you couldn't figure that out?_ I think in my head at Reyn and Shulk's banter. I have to admit though, there banter is even funnier than the banter between the two main characters of this one TV show set in space.

"You're catching on," Sharla says with a slight smile, which pulls me out of my attempt to remember something from my old life.

"Great! So how do we get in?" Reyn asks, excitedly.

"Through the Drainage Outlet, which is right up ahead on the Splintered Path." Sharla replies.

We walk for a bit, but Reyn points out that there is a merchant up ahead, and reminds us that we should probably restock up on food.

"Hey little merchant, what are you selling?" I ask the Nopon that looks like a green ball.

"Daza no sell to Hom Hom friends!" He replies jumping up and down with his… wings? Arms? What are they?

"Reyn, what is he saying?" I say aside, so that the little Nopon won't here.

"Oh, exactly what he's saying. It's just that Nopon speak differently," Reyn replies. "I thought we already told that to you back in Colony 9."

"So, little friend, what is your problem?" I ask the Nopon.

"Hoxes steal Proof of Merchant! Proof of Merchant very important to Daza." Daza replies.

 _Interesting, these creatures refer to themselves in the third person. That's fairly weird._

"So, what is a Hox?" I ask Daza.

"You don't know what a Hox is?" Sharla asks.

"Out of this world, remember?" I answer.

"Oh, that is why friend smell funny!" Daza then pipes up.

"Um, what?" I ask Daza.

"Sorry for not telling you this before, but Nopon have… well… interesting habits." Shulk then says, whispering into my ear.

"Nopon have best sense of smell! Better than Hom Hom friends!" Daza says, waddling a little bit.

"Okay? Anyway, where is this Proof of Merchant?" I ask.

"Hoxes stole it!" Daza says.

"Okay, what do you want us to do with the Hoxes?"

"Kill them! Kill them all!" He replies.

"O… kay?" I reply.

"If you do that, I'll spread word of you and give you gold too." He says.

"Can't be that bad." Reyn dead-pans.

"Let's go." I say.

We walk to, what Sharla calls, the Splintered Path, and then see the animals that Daza is pointing for us to kill. Quickly one sees us, and the four of us engage.

Sharla shoots one with her rifle, while Reyn draws the animosity. He is able to cut one in half through the torso using his heavy gun lance.

"Only two more left!" Sharla says, excitedly. "And, look! There's the one with the Proof!"

I run to the one with the proof, while Reyn quickly dispatches the other one, and then lunge through the midsection of the body, which makes it bleed. Still giving a fourth of a fight, I try and end its life quickly, decapitating it, which makes it drop the Proof to the ground.

I pick it up and quickly return it to Daza.

"Thank you Hom Hom friends. Here is reward that Daza promised!"

I open one of the chests, and see that it's a new driver for Reyn.

"Oh yeah! New gear! Look at the other chest too!" Reyn opens the chest and pumps his fist. "Yeah! More money! Anyway, you need anything else done?"

"Oh, you are nice Hom Hom! Daza needs monsters to be bashed!"

"Okay…" I say.

After hearing the merchant, we do his bidding and get more money, and then bid him goodbye, we go to the Splintered Path, where Sharla slightly stops and closes her eyes.

"Sharla, you okay?" Reyn asks.

"I'm… okay?" She answers apprehensively.

"Are you slightly scared of anything?" Reyn concernedly inquires.

"Well… I may have almost fallen off the Splintered Path, but luckily my father was standing right next to me."

"Oh."  
"Anyway, let's press on." Sharla continues, nervously.

The four of us walk to the Drainage Outlet, where Sharla enters first, Reyn enters after her, I enter next, and Shulk enters last.

For a few minutes we don't see anything as there aren't any lights, but slowly as our eyes adjust to the darkness we see a small crevasse, which we enter.

"Aaah!" A collective scream from the four of us happen when we open the door and light like the outside greets us.

"Are trying to blind us?" Reyn asks.

"Sorry friends!" A Nopon who I assume is a merchant replies.

"Eh, no hard feelings," Reyn replies.

We continue through the Drainage Outlet, and we enter the ether mine proper, going through what Sharla calls the "Test Pits".

"Those are ether crystals, correct?" Shulk says.

"Yes, you can go pick those up," Sharla says, slightly disapprovingly.

We keep going until we hear a clanking sound, where Sharla looks up, and crouches. Shulk, Reyn, and I look interested until she talks.

"Guys! Kill the noise!" Sharla whispers, as she cranes her head out and narrows her eyes.

"What is it?" I whisper.

Shulk peers out the corner and answers my question for me, "A Mechon."

"I can't believe they've taken the mine too! That means that the Defence Force and Residents are…" Sharla's voice trails off, and her eyes widen in realisation. "Oh, no! Juju!" She rises quickly from our hiding spot, and we pull her back down.

"Keep it together, Sharla! Don't start panicking now," Reyn says, reassuringly.

"Reyn…"

"You said yourself, they can't have seized the entire area, right? I betcha they're holed up someplace safe. Juju is alive, and we're gonna find him." He says with conviction.

"That's why we're here. You can count on us," Shulk replies.

"Yes, for now though, let's find them." I say, a wry smile creeping on my face.

"Reyn… Shulk… Augustine… Thank you."

We then go out of the nook where we were hiding, and see some Mechon.

"So, are we doing a stealth mission, or destroy all Mechon thing?" I ask.

"Let's destroy all of the Mechon!" Reyn says, pumping his fist, while Shulk puts his hand on his chin and thinks.

"Well… we do have the Monado, and it can enchant things. So why not?" Shulk thinks aloud.

"Okay, it's decided then," I say.

We walk through the halls, weapons at our sides, until we see a Mechon. Shulk enchants our weapons, Sharla crouches and then shoots the Mechon, and the three of us charge, easily cutting through the Mechon like butter.

Continuing through the halls we see more ether crystals, which Sharla says that we should mine, but when we turn a corner we hear a huge bang sound, upon which Sharla looks up in shock.

"An ether rifle?" She says, upbeat while bolting out of cover and to the source of the noise. "Gadolt!"

"Sharla! Wait!" Reyn shouts after her as she runs through one of the tunnels. We hear more ether shots as we get closer, so I deduce that there is probably more than one person, as Sharla takes forever to reload.

"Gadolt!" Sharla shouts as we traverse the cave running at full speed after her. She takes out her rifle as she disappears around a corner. We keep running until we hear her shout, "Otharon!"

 _Who's Otharon?_ I furrow my eyes in thought, but then hear her own ether rifle firing with the newcomer's. _Wow, she probably modified her rifle to make it sound louder than the stock version._

We hear clangs, which are probably Mechon being hit, and draw our weapons and run into the room, which I assume is a storage depot. Shulk enchants our weapons, and quickly the place is rid of Mechon none of us suffering injuries in the process.

"Medic. Why are you here?" The old man, who I assume is Otharon, asks Sharla.

 _So she's a Medic. No wonder she knows how to use a rifle properly. Wait, now I need to ask Reyn why he doesn't use a rifle._

"Sir," she stands at attention addressing Otharon, "Isn't Gadolt with you?"

Otharon sighs and takes a few steps back from her, and sighs. "We have much to discuss, come with me."

Shulk, Reyn and I exchange glances at each other, knowing that this cannot be good news. I have a feeling that in Shulk's and Reyn's minds, they are formulating condolences, being the two emotionally driven individuals. Following Sharla we go into one of the caves with her.

"Do you think we should catch Otharon up on what happened?" Shulk asks me.

"Well, he might be compelled to join us," I reply.

We walk into the room, where Otharon stares at the four of us, then opens his mouth, "Explain," he says in a nonchalant voice.

"It all started in Colony 9, where Shulk, and Reyn found me," I say.

"Is this necessary to explain?" Otharon narrows his eyes.

"Sir, while time is of the essence, please listen to them," Sharla replies.

"Sir, I was in the Colony 9 Defence Force, First Platoon, Second Squadron. The Mechon attacked while I was off-duty, and I saw the destruction of the… regiment defending the Military District," Reyn says, emotion in his voice, but hidden in his face. "I made a choice right there and then, that I would destroy the Mechon."

"The next day, I came to the same conclusion too, after I lost…," Shulk stops talking, and looks down at the ground, "I lost one of my best friends. She was one of Reyn's best friends too. We were an inseparable trio, and I came to the same conclusion."

"I joined them to find out where I was from, and to return to that place, as Colony 9 isn't my home." I tell Otharon.

"This is a revenge mission, yes?" Otharon asks.

"Yes, sir." The three of us answer.

"How did you come into contact with Medic Sharla?" Otharon questions us.

"She invited us to their refugee camp, and we helped around the camp, but then her brother Juju ran off, going back to Colony 6," I reply.

"And?" Otharon inquires, his eyes narrowing.

"We tried to save him, but a bronze-faced Mechon took him back to Colony 6, sir." Sharla answers.

"So, Juju has been taken by the bronze-face one." Otharon sighs.

"Sir, what about Gadolt?" Sharla asks, her hands clasped.

"Gadolt is gone."

"Gone?! What do you mean gone?!"

Otharon sighs, "Gadolt and I planned a surprise attack to set everyone free," He looks down with an expression of pain on his face. "We failed miserably, though, and I was knocked out. When I woke, Gadolt was nowhere to be seen, and only his rifle remained. But he is alive, I can feel it. We may not be joined by blood, but he is like a son to me. I'd know if he were dead."

While Sharla is contemplating the news, Reyn replies to Otharon, "Some of the people in Colony 9 got eaten…"

"Reyn!" Shulk and I shout at him.

"Sorry, forget I said that."

"The good news is, they don't kill Homs straight away. If the bronze-faced one took him then we still have a little bit of time left," Otharon says, nodding to Sharla.

"Are you sure?" Shulk inquires, slightly sceptical.

"Yes, but we'll need the full power of that blade on your back." Otharon says.

"You can count on us, sir," Reyn replies.

"We're heading for the Central Pit, it's where they take all the Homs they kidnap. If Juju's alive, that's where he'll be." Otharon says to the four of us. "Group, move out!"

I gather my things, but then, of all times, have another vision.

I see a green river, with the bronze-faced Mechon inside of it, pulling a vehicle down into the river. The man in the vehicle looks exactly, no, is Otharon and he climbs up on the cab.

"This is for you, and the people of Colony 6!" He shouts, firing his rifle into the head of the Mechon, which makes it fall into the river. Otharon then loses his balance, which makes him fall into the river too.

I go back into the present, and Shulk gasps, which means, that probably, he had the same vision. Though, his gasp is audible enough for Reyn to hear.

"You say something, Shulk?" Reyn asks.

"No, it was nothing. Forget it." He replies.

"Augustine, did you see something?" Reyn asks.

"Yes," I reply. "Though, I didn't recognise anyone," I lie.

"What's the hold up? Let's move!" I hear Otharon from the front of our column.

"Sir!" Reyn replies.

We keep walking through the mines, going deeper into what I assume is the Central Pit. Shulk lags behind, and Reyn looks at Shulk, slightly pensively.

I keep moving, but Shulk keeps moving slower and slower.

"Hey man, you okay?" I ask him, jarring him from his thoughts.

"No!" Shulk shouts, I jump back.

"Shulk, what's wrong?!" Reyn asks, supporting his friend.

"This battle is for my people! If you can't handle it, then drop that weapon and go home!" Otharon growls at Shulk.

"That's not it!" Shulk challenges. "It's just that…"

"Out. With. It," Otharon matches his tone.

"Maybe we just shouldn't rush in head first."

"What?"

"We got this far," Reyn replies.

"I think we should observe them and then plan our attack afterwards," Shulk says to Reyn.

"Well… I do think stratagems are the best way to beat the Mechon," I say, offering my insight.

"You insolent…" Shulk, I and Reyn jump back at this outburst, while Sharla looks on passively. "We don't have that kind of time! You don't know a damn thing about these machines. I have observed their movements, I've planned this attack for a month! I know full well what will happen to my brothers and sisters."

"Then, if you've observed them for a month, what is our stratagem?" I ask Otharon. "Is it to get killed, fighting the bronze-faced Mechon one-on-one? Is it… make it up as we go along." I spit these words out like venom, grimacing. "I may not remember where I come from, but I do remember some strategies."

"Why do I argue with an idealist? You do not know anything!" Otharon replies.

"I do know that a man should not be emotional when creating strategies," I reply.

Otharon scoffs, and then tells Sharla to move out, which leaves Shulk, Reyn and I.

"Man, you don't do that to a commanding officer!" Reyn says to me.

"Well, technically, we're civilians," I reply.

Sharla turns around and asks, "What's got into you?"

"Fine, I'll spit it out. I, wait, we had a vision." I reply to Sharla.

"A vision again? Let me guess, another death?" Reyn asks concernedly.

"Yes," Shulk replies.

"I knew it. The Shulk I know doesn't chicken out for any old reason." Reyn says, sighing.

"This vision… Was it like before?" Sharla inquires.

"Slightly, there was an underground green river," I reply. "Otharon was also engaging the bronze-faced Mechon."

"An ether river…" Reyn muses. "You know what? You two see the future. All that power and yet you keep getting it wrong."

"Better to use my brain than my fists," Shulk replies.

"Shulk, I may rush in head first, but at least my head's good for something!" Reyn matches Shulk, indignantly.

"OK. Okay, I get the idea."

"I ain't done yet! You're useless on your own, Shulk. That's why we're here," Reyn replies, waving his hand to Sharla and I.

"Reyn, I…"

"Next time you bear a burden, you tell us! We'll bear the burden together as a team!"

"Eh…"

"You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together! Got it?" I tell Shulk, slightly more exuberant than what I was thinking.

"Got it," He replies, slightly sulkily.

"I can't hear you, man," Reyn says jokingly.

"I got it! All right? Next time, I'll tell you," Shulk replies.

"Augustine, you also aren't exempt to this either," Sharla says.

"All right," I reply to her.

Reassured and reinvigorated, we press on to the Central Pit, where we don't see Otharon.

"Where's Otharon?" I inquire, narrowing my eyes.

"I don't know where he's going, but he went in the general direction of the Central Pit," Sharla answers me.

"Okay, let's go there," I reply.

We walk tiptoeing, until we get into an opening, where there are turning wheels. I look down, and fall slightly faint.

"Are you okay?" Shulk asks me.

"I'm fine, it's just that, I wasn't expecting it to go this low when I got here."

"Well, it's a mine," Reyn says, making me smile a slight bit.

"So, how do we go down?" I ask Sharla. "I mean, what's our plan? Do we just go down killing Mechon, or do we try and stealth it out?"

"Do you see those small Mechon?" Shulk asks me.

"Yes, I do."

"Those all detect by sound. In other words, we walk or run near them, we get attacked. In other words, we should just go around killing Mechon. Besides, it might give Otharon an opening," He pauses, making us wonder what else he's thinking. "Any questions?"

"Nah, not really."

"Ready for anything, Shulk," Reyn replies.

"If you really think that's the best path," Sharla shrugs.

"Let's go then," Shulk replies.

We walk crouching and slinking along the paths, trying our best to avoid the Mechon, even though most of the time we get caught. In that case we fight our way out of the traps that are set. Being annoyed,

"Sharla! Destroy that Mechon that keeps alerting its friends!" I whisper, pointing to a very small Mechon that looks a little bit like a spider.

"That's a good idea, we should take out these kinds of Mechon so they won't alert their comrades…" Sharla muses.

Thankfully, the last bunch of Mechon that are guarding the elevator are aloof, so walking around them is extremely easy.

The four of us go down the elevator, and reach the bottom, where there is no trace of humanity on the bottom. I then look down at the floor and then gasp, as the only thing on the floor is dried blood. Sharla gasps, while Reyn and Shulk clench their fists.

"No… They're gone…" Sharla's voice trails with sadness. "So whose blood is…" she looks up, with a look of murder on her face, grimacing. She looks up, and scans the Central Pit, but the bronze-faced Mechon catches her eye.

"Ahh, here at last!" The bronze-faced Mechon shouts as it flies over our heads, laughing. "I've been getting hungry!" It taunts.

"Shulk's it's him!" Reyn shouts.

"It's the one who took Juju," Shulk acknowledges.

It lands on the ground, with a large bang, and it advances towards the four of us. It calls down the Mechon that we didn't destroy and they form a "bull's horns" formation, threatening to encircle us. Sharla aims her rifle while we draw our weapons.

"Ha ha ha! You want the brat?" The bronze-face talks down to us. "Well, he's right here!" He points to a flying Mechon unit, where Juju is being held by pink laser beams in a polygonal pattern.

"Juju!" Sharla shouts, trying to get his attention, though it is obvious that he is unconscious.

"He's still alive, but he won't be for long!" the bronze-face laughs at this statement. "As for the others, well…" he pauses, seemingly for dramatic effect while the grimaces on Shulk and Reyn's faces grow larger. "I just couldn't help myself. I ate them all up!"

I gasp. _How can a being be so dedicated to destruction, does it need all of the sustenance that killing entire settlements, gives?_

 _"_ Welcome to our banquet hall," it gestures around the Central Pit. "Tonight, the main course will be you! And if I've still got room, then the brat will make a tasty desert."

"Murderer!" shouts Shulk.

"I'm Xord, your host tonight," he says, disregarding Shulk's comment.

"Xord? So you have a name?"

"That's what they all say, can't say I remember it myself," it answers.

"What's he talking about?!" Shulk asks him, bewildered.

"Oh yes!" He shouts, coming back to his senses. "It's good to see fresh meat on the table! Those colony folk just didn't fill me up!" He taunts as he bangs his hammer on the ground, shock waves upsetting our footing.

"Gadolt… the others…" Sharla breathes distraughtly. She puts her rifle up to eye level and fires, emptying the clip. "I swear I won't stop until I've scrapped each and EVERY ONE OF YOU!" she keeps moving forward, shooting any Mechon that dare stand in her path, though she is in danger of being encircled.

Almost like seeing my thoughts, Reyn shouts, "Get behind me!" as three other Mechon approach from the front, two more Mechon approach from the right, and two more from the left, probably more than Sharla could take on. Sharla retreats, and I move to the right, dealing with the Mechon flanking her, though the three keep advancing, but Shulk jumps in front of Reyn's shield, and bisects the three with one swing of his sword. I deal with the other two on her left quickly with the enchant, stabbing through their shells.

"My friends! We are Homs!" Shulk says, with conviction in his voice. "And we won't just stand here waiting to be eaten!" as he brandishes the Monado.

"The Monado?" Xord taunts, raising his hammer and laughing seeing us as a non-threat. "Do you think you can dent me?"

Shulk goes into a ready stance and charges into Xord, shouting, "How about this!?" and a subsequent, "What?!" when the Monado bounces off of him, not even leaving a slight mark on the leg Shulk hit.

"I'm not Metal Face! You'll have to try harder!" He replies, swinging his hammer down and narrowly missing Shulk.

I see him muttering to himself, but do not understand him as he again swings the Monado down on the foot of the Mechon, the Monado again bouncing off and doing nothing. Seeing this, Reyn and I charge at Xord bringing battle to him, while Sharla aims at the head and fires, having no effect.

"Feels like a fly bit me!" Xord shouts, again swinging at us, nearly killing Reyn by his hammer, though he luckily was able to block with his shield. Sharla heals Reyn, getting him back into the fight. I charge in, dodging one of the hammer swings, and go through his legs, swinging at the back portion, surmising that there might be a weak point, but my charge is blunted.

"No! We'll never get to Juju at this rate. I've got to think of something!" Shulk grits his teeth.

"Can you speed me up? Maybe I can go and jump higher or something?" I reply.

Shulk uses Monado Speed, and immediately I charge forward and jump, hitting the legs of the bronze-face. It simply laughs and tries to throw me off, but I dodge again, and lunge into its other leg, but no damage arises.

The speed wears off, and again regularly, I fight the Mechon, but I hear a cry in the air as we look behind us.

"No! We're being surrounded!" Sharla shouts. "Should we pull out?"

"Reyn, Sharla, hold off our back, we'll work on him!" Shulk shouts.

"Too late!" Xord shouts as he swings the hammer, and Shulk and I dodge the wrong way so we get hit by the shaft, denting our armour, and that sends us back on the floor. Sharla heals us, but the Mechon raises its hammer once more, and then swings downwards once more.

"No!" I shout, suddenly we hear the sound of tires screeching on the floor as a Mobile Artillery Unit charges at the Mechon.

"What?" Reyn gasps as the driver uses one of the cannons as a fist to drive the Mechon back. He spins as the Mechon tries to hit the cockpit where the man is. The artillery unit then dodges another swing, and then punches the Mechon in the face.

"You feeling hungry, eh?" The driver asks, as it turns around, to us.

 _Wow, it's Otharon! He really knows his way around a Mobile Artillery Unit._

Otharon and Xord keep fighting as Sharla, and Reyn keep running toward Juju. I stop and survey the surroundings to see if Xord called down more Mechon reinforcements, and thankfully, he did not. I also see that Otharon is getting the upper hand in his brawl with Xord, as he is pushing him down.

"Chew on this, scrap for brains!" Otharon shouts as metallic fist that he is making with the Mobile Artillery connects with the head of the Mechon and with the shift in balance, Xord falls on the ground, cracking it. "Boy! Now's your chance! Save Juju!:

"Otharon, don't do it!" Shulk shouts.

"He's right! Stop!" I shout.

He doesn't heed our advice and just says, "Hurry up!"

Sharla and Reyn free Juju by getting him out of the laser beam pentagon while I run nearer to Otharon. I see Shulk running towards a vehicle, and narrow my eyes.

"Reyn! Keep tending to Juju!" Shulk says, sprinting to the vehicle, which upon closer examination has a crane on the back.

"Oh," I say in realisation on what Shulk is about to do.

"Shulk, what are you doing?" Reyn asks.

Otharon is just beyond the line of sight, as the ground gave way a few moments ago, and only the "feet" of the Mobile Artillery are able to be seen, although I hear an explosion and the words, "Let's see if that body of yours can withstand an ether river!"

"Sharla! Leave the rest to us!" Reyn says as he runs towards Otharon, as the artillery unit is slightly slipping off of the platform that it is on. "Hang in there you old fool!"

I run to Reyn, as I also hear about the ether river, which means that this is the place that the vision takes place in. Shulk, then fires the crane at Otharon's artillery, which almost misses, but on the return catches the leg of the artillery.

"What a shot!" Reyn says in amazement as the crane screeches forward, because of the mass on the other side, while Shulk pulls the levers on the crane.

"We can change our destinies. Otharon… You won't die here. Not today!" Shulk says, the voice unbowed.

Everything looks fine for a moment, except for the precarious position of the crane, but a horrible screeching sound is heard, and the artillery unit slides slowly to the edge again.

"You… Cannot… Defeat… ME!" I hear a horrid shouting from the edge, as I infer that Xord probably doesn't want to go down yet.

"Get out of there, quick!" Shulk says, as I run with Reyn, as my mouth gapes open as Otharon climbs out of the cockpit, brandishing his rifle.

"It's giving way!" Shulk shouts.

Otharon, out of his vehicle, aims down the rifle at Xord.

"He's gonna…" Reyn says.

"It won't be long my friends. But not before…" Otharon reloads his rifle and peers into the sight, "Gadolt! This is for you! This is for the people of Colony 6!"

He pulls the trigger. Xord falls, and loses his grip, and plunges into the ether river screaming, but he drags Otharon's artillery down, which makes the latter tumble helplessly through the air.

"But I… This isn't supposed to happen! Otharon!" Shulk shouts.

Reyn runs and catches Otharon, while I support Reyn from falling.

"That was close!" Reyn answers, while I pull him and Otharon over the edge.

"Thank you." Otharon answers.

"Save the thanks for Shulk and his visions. As soon as I saw an ether river, I knew that this had to be the place."

While Shulk parks the crane in the place it used to be, we walk to Sharla and Juju.

"Juju… You're safe now," Sharla says, smiling slightly.

"What did I tell you? We three, we can make anything happen. He turns to us and we smile at each other.

"I stand corrected," Shulk says.

"A boy who can change the future. I stand corrected, young man. You've done great deeds here today. Also, you" pointing to me, "I'm sorry for arguing with you."

"No need to say sorry," I reply, smiling. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Tell me. Your vision saved me, but what of the others? What about Gadolt?" Otharon asks to Shulk.

"Well…" I reply.

"I see," Otharon says, gritting his teeth. He then lightens up, and then gives the rifle to Sharla. "Take this, Gadolt would have wanted you to have it."

Sharla looks down and sighs, and assumes a look I don't know.

"So, what do we do? Should we head back to camp?" I ask.

"Yes. We need to give Juju medical attention." Sharla answers me.

"There's a freight elevator on the next level, from there it is an easy way out of the mine. As long as it's working." Sharla says.

"We better get there and find out," Reyn replies to that.

"Ha, a dry answer," Sharla chortles. "But, we need to move on and stop worrying about everything."

We walk to the elevator, but I stop remembering another feature of the place I came from…

 **(A/N): This game is really hard to write in first person limited perspective! I hope you guys liked the longer chapter, and I also apologise for the long update. Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter X: Unfinished Battles

 _That's interesting._ _I remember that I once was an engineer in my work, but I don't remember how I got here. Was I part of an experiment? What did I do?_ I stop walking up the ether mine and think.

"Oy! Augustine! You better hurry up, you can sit on the freight elevator when we get there." Reyn jests, slightly laughing.

We walk up the ramp, to the freight elevator, silent. Shulk presses the button of the freight elevator and smirks.

"What're you smirking for?" Shulk asks.

"See, I was right! I probably should press all the buttons from now on." Reyn confidently says.

"I'm not so sure about that…" I reply.

All of us, even Otharon, laugh at this statement. I also ask if Otharon knows what the time is, which he answers that it is about night.

We continue along the slow ride, the undulating rumble of the wheels below us, and the nothing but the dark to keep us company. I use this time for thinking about what I know and what I need to know about my situation.

 _I know that I am from a different place, that means different country, or world, or whatever._

 _I don't know how I got here._

 _I remember many complex arithmetic formulae, I could be either a scientist or an engineer back in the world I came from_

 _I remember I used to have a love interest._

 _Interesting things that I used to have, if all my inferences are true._

I weigh my situation, but the elevator stops, with a sudden jolt. My mind snaps back into reality.

"Hey, why've we stopped?" Reyn asks.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough," Shulk replies.

We hear a noise coming from below. An unnatural low noise that swells louder ever second. We draw our weapons.

The large Mechon that we fought before descends onto the elevator with a mighty crash. Unlike before, the bronze armour is caked with black and green, half-eaten away with many wires showing. It is a sorry sight compared to it before, and is nearly hard to not feel a slight pang of pity for it.

"Not him again," Reyn sighs, slight disdain in his voice as he looks upon the near non-existent armour of the Mechon.

"This one doesn't give up," Sharla responds.

"Now is the chance! Let's finish it!" Shulk shouts, who slashes the Monado right at one of the legs, slicing three-fourth of the way through. "His armour is spent! Charge!" He remarks to us while enchanting us.

I dodge the hammer and block his other arm as he tries to punch me, and then while going through his leg, stab the back of the Mechon. Reyn attacks, drawing the animosity with him and the Mechon swings, but doesn't connect. Shulk gets into the back, and then finishes with a backslash, which splits the Mechon down the shoulder, removing the left arm.

"Aargh!" The Mechon shouts as it falls onto the floor, landing with a large "thunk", ether leaking out of many holes in the armour, and wires sparking. The only visible portion that is left working are the thrusters, which still spurt energy. It raises its hammer one more time, and breathes heavily. "Still hungry!" It says, doing a last hurrah.

Sharla and Otharon move in front of us, and fire at the arm with the hammer, Otharon hitting the hammer, and Sharla aiming for the joint on the arm. The attacks connect, blowing apart the arm and the hammer, and leaving the Mechon crumpling on the floor.

"Did we get him?" Reyn asks, as the Mechon breathes heavily on the floor, kind of like an asthma attack.

"Got to hand it to you…" He breathes heavily, so much that we are hard pressed to hear him, and we approach Xord, cautiously. "You beat me… Without even releasing… The true power of the Monado."

"True power? What do you know about the Monado?!" Shulk demands, the Monado nearly on the head of the Mechon.

"Sorry boy, I can't tell you that. You'll have to find out the truth on their own." Xord answers.

"The truth?"

"When I became what you see now, that's when my eyes were opened," I hear the rev up of the engines, as blue light ejects out of them. "Was a good ride while it lasted."

"When you became like this?" Shulk implores, his free hand on his chin, in his thinking pose. "What do you mean?!"

"Time's up, pipsqueak!" Xord launches over the edge in a cinematic fashion, the humped-back getting smaller and smaller as it falls down the elevator shaft.

"Xord!" Shulk shouts as the Mechon explodes at the bottom, releasing an extreme amount of bluish-greenish particles that suddenly make the elevator lurch forward, making us all lose our footing.

"We got out of that encounter alive," I say, cheerfully.

"Yes, but remember, this is a mine. Mines have explosives, explosives…" Shulk's voice quivers in his throat. "We… kind of need to get out of here?"

"Oh," I say, and the air becomes deathly silent as we ascend to the surface, the patter of rain becoming ever-so-slightly louder the closer we get to the surface, the grey speck becoming larger and larger.

It gets to the surface and we run. Suddenly an explosion happens, and the shockwave pushes us to the ground. We look back, and smoke pours out of the entrance, like some sick science experiment.

"We smashed that bronze idiot," Reyn says, apparently not thinking anything of Xord's talking, putting Juju right next to Sharla. "Now the people of Colony 6 can rest in peace."

Sharla looks down at Juju, not replying to Reyn's comment, but Juju stirs.

"Sharla?" Juju asks weakly, his voice hoarse as if he hasn't spoke for ages.

"Are you okay?" Sharla demands, hugging him tightly. Juju nods, and Sharla even hugs him tighter. "Thank the stars that you're all right."

"Where are we?"

"Just outside of the Ether Mine in Colony 6." She gestures to us, "Thanks to them, we were able to destroy that… thing, but not everyone made it."

"Oh…" Juju mumbles, as he gets up onto his feet, and Sharla checks for any injuries. "I'm so sorry. Shulk, Reyn, Augustine… I didn't mean to cause any more trouble running off like that."

"Forget about it, kid. We settled the score!" Reyn responds cheerfully.

"I mean, if you really want to, you can come with us," I say to him, but am met with a withering glare from Sharla. "… If Sharla allows?" I add, meekly.

"Thanks!" Juju responds, and is also met with a glare from Sharla.

"That's all well and good, but there's still no sign of the Mechon with a metal face. That's the one that we're after," Shulk says, with a slight frown on his face. "But, for now, we should really head back to Colony 9, we need to get all of the ether crystals turned into gems."

"Yeah!" Reyn replies, enthusiastically, pumping his fist.

"Hope I'm not interrupting!" a menacing voice comes from the side of the cliff, and makes us all jump back five feet from fright. The Mechon with the metal face emerges, and from the colouration, trim, and claws, it is obvious that it is Metal Face.

"It's him! Metal Face!" Shulk shouts with venom in his voice, as Metal Face lands on the wet ground, making mud splash everywhere. Other Mechon land, making splashes, and many look like Xord, but most of the others are regular Mechon.

"Not just him! A whole bunch! And tons of 'em look like Xord," Reyn says, frightfully as we clutch our weapons, and go into guard stances.

"Pathetic! After all that talk, Xord was crushed by worthless, insignificant maggots like you?" He asks, spitting out the last phrase.

"This one can talk 'n' all!" Reyn announces, annoyed.

"I think all faced ones can talk, Reyn!" I tell him.

"We can talk all right! But, I've also got a good memory, 'Fiora! Get outta there! Get out!'" Recalling the earlier situation, he laughs cruelly, banging the ground with his foot, truly enjoying the moment. "Her screams were music to my ears, as my claws slid right through her soft flesh…" he acts out the movement of his claws, laughing all the way through, "Like a hot knife through butter!"

The four of us, enraged, draw our weapons, but none so fast as Shulk who has already activated the Monado and is charging at Metal Face shouting, "Talk all you want… As those words SHALL BE YOUR LAST!"

Shulk swings at Metal Face's claws, and Metal Face blocks, the two engaging in a contest of strength, until he simply pushes him aside like the breeze pushes a leaf.

"The Monado? Heh, it's been a while. But you should know by now… the Monado can't stop me!" He swings at Shulk as the latter gets up, and unprepared, he gets electrocuted, while propelled backwards due to the force of the blow, sliding along several metres on the ground.

"Shulk!" A collective shout from the three of us comes as we kneel next to him, and help him up.

"You… Barbarous, treacherous, knave!" I shout, drawing my sword.

"I'm gonna…" Reyn's voice trails off with anger.

"Anyway you slice it, the Monado ain't gonna work, boy!" He chuckles as he crosses his arms, and continues, "Didn't work then, won't work now. Anyway, now to cut you down to size!" He shouts as he spreads his claws out, about to deliver the coup de grace on us, but a red light comes down and explodes on one of his claws, making him look up. "What?!"

We look up.

A collective sigh by the group happens when we see Dickson perched upon the cliff, smoke coming from the barrel of the gun.

"That's…" Otharon says, his voice trailing off in awe, taking his rifle off of his back.

"Now! Let'em have it, Beast!" Dickson shouts to someone out of sight, and a man in a maroon suit and a cape runs down the cliff, shouting. He swings his sword at a Mechon's joint, and it cuts through, more effectively than my sword, or Reyn's driver would. He turns back, adjusting the cape and I see it is the Hero of the Homs, Dunban. I sheathe my sword, knowing that the large group will probably need ranged support.

"It's you, Dunban!" Shulk shouts, excitedly.

"How did you…?" Reyn asks, but Dunban, seemingly with eyes in the back of his head, dodges another Mechon and then slices through the armour.

"Sorry to have kept you?" He says, putting the sword on his shoulder. "Looks like we were just in time." he says, as Dickson comically slides down the cliff, joining up with us.

"I ain't holding back any more," Dickson says to us, and we smile.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's do this!" I say.

Shulk enchants the six of us, including Otharon, and we fight. Otharon takes on an M69, destroying it, Dunban takes on an M64, Dickson; another M69, and the rest of us go against the horde of assorted Mechon.

I destroy one easily, cutting through the shell with my enchanted blade, while Shulk destroys his Mechon with one swipe of the Monado, freeing him up, though six more take their place. I cover Shulk's back with a well placed arrow that destroys one, and the subsequent explosion damages the other, which Sharla, with no healing duties, destroys easily. Otharon dodges a Mechon with unexpected nimbleness and destroys it, and Shulk busts two more with the Monado. We are visibly overwhelmed, as we still haven't beaten a tenth of the column.

"There's no end to them," Reyn says, distraughtly. "Where are they all coming from?" he jumps, and tries to see whether we have gotten through the thickest of the column.

"I can take the smaller ones, but the rest will be like fighting Xord over and over again!" Sharla says, slightly annoyed at our situation.

"If only our weapons would work on those things!" Shulk responds, distraughtly. "Augustine, if we survive this, get ether arrows back in Colony 9! They can damage Mechon."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" I ask him, annoyed, and with no more arrows left, parrying the "arm" of a Mechon and then stabbing it.

"Nobody uses arrows! Rifles are the better thing!" Shulk says.

"Focus, Shulk," Dunban remarks while we bicker over me not buying ether arrows.

"Look out!" Reyn shouts as an unseen Mechon charges at Shulk. Shulk turns around, and nearly gets hit, but Reyn tackles him out of the way, and Sharla gives cover fire.

"Ha ha ha! Look at you all," Metal Face laughs, taunting us.

"Look at this, metal brain!" Dickson shouts at Metal Face and fires a bullet, but Metal Face just blocks with his claws.

"That it, grandpa?" Metal Face jeers.

"Running out of ideas…" Dickson says, and I see his lips moving, probably cursing under his breath.

"Guys, spread out and engage," I request, seeing that we are about to be surrounded, yet again. "Sharla, look out. You're about to get swarmed on your right," I point to her, and she nods. She points at something behind me, and I lunge at it, destroying it, but another one, unseen, comes up behind me and slashes my legs.

"Augustine!" Shulk shouts, and he tries to come closer, but I wave him away.

"Stay… there! I'll deal with them myself!" I tell him, and Shulk heals me, while I wheel around and try to dodge the Mechon, but fall because of the pain. I still manage to destroy the Mechon by stabbing it. Sharla also heals me and pulls me back.

"Are you all right?" She asks.

"Yeah," I grunt. "Though, how bad is it?"

"You'll be limping for a week, but nothing major because of the ether."

"Good."

"You may be able to block a projectile, but let's see if you can block… This!" I snap my neck to where Dunban is, and he charges at Metal Face. He slashes, scratching the paint off of the arm, but Metal simply uses the other claw and swats him away.

"Tell me. How does it feel to be such a pathetic hero?" Metal Face implores with a condescending tone. Dunban then clutches his right arm, and seethes.

"You okay, Dunban?" Shulk asks, about to again heal him, but another Mechon catches his attention.

"Does it hurt? I bet it does. It hurts because the Monado won't work for a bunch of losers, like you!" Metal Face responds, malice dripping with every word. He even tries to stab Dunban, but he dodges.

"What are you?" Dunban asks, his sword levelled at Metal Face.

"Save it, I ain't interested. You little maggots need to know when you've been stepped on!" He bends his back, and reveals his cannon. We recoil at the sight. He laughs as he charges up the cannon.

"That light…" Dunban gasps. "Everybody, fall back now!"

"Won't change a thing. I'm gonna wipe you out once and for all!" Metal Face replies.

I gasp as I try to get up, the pain in my legs hurting, but adrenaline takes over and I stand. Looking up, I see a giant dinosaur-like thing that is light green, and it charges its own mouth with green particles. It releases that green light, and it destroys a faced Mechon in the back of the column.

"What the?!" Metal Face wonder as he dodges the "ether shots" that hit his other brethren, which scatter. "A Telethia?"

 _What the hell is a Telethia?_ I ask myself, wondering if there is more to that green dinosaur-like thing than meets the eye.

I see an opening among the Mechon, directly exposing Metal Face, and beckon for Shulk to move.

"Now's our chance!" Shulk shouts, as he charges climbing up onto Metal Face's arm, and bringing down the full force of the Monado onto it. At first nothing happens. Then, the Monado slightly melts the metal of the Mechon, which makes Metal Face seemingly cringe with pain.

"You'll pay for that! How are you-" Metal Face asks, annoyed.

I limp to the back where Sharla is supporting the retreat, using my sword as a walking stick. I then get a sensation like I'm about to get a vision…

 _There is a horn, covered in green. A black tower, floating in the air tries to obscure it. A black Mechon, about the size of a Homs stands there, along with Metal Face and one other white Mechon with pink trim. The black Mechon is the same as before, and I notice one other detail, the face is slightly covered._

 _A woman with small wings on the back of her head is also shown, looking at the three Mechon, and I hear Shulk's voice shouting, "You will pay for what you have done! You will know the pain and suffering that you caused the Emperor and Fiora!" He does that to a Faced Mechon, and the armour gives way._

"Enough of this!" Metal Face shouts, and I am brought back to the present. Metal Face then swings his arm wildly, and Shulk is knocked off. "You got lucky, brat! Next time, your head is mine," He shouts as he looks at the damage on his right arm. He takes off, and the remaining Mechon take off too.

"You're not getting away!" Shulk shouts at him.

"Get back here!" Reyn shouts, starting to run after Metal Face.

"Shulk, Reyn, let it go," Dunban orders, nonchalantly, but in his eyes has a look of command.

"You've got to be kidding! He's the one who killed Fiora." Reyn shouts at Dunban, but lowers his tone of voice when he sees his eyes.

"Know your limits. We'll get another chance," Dunban replies. "Augustine is injured and is out of the fight."

"Fine," Shulk says, mouthing sorry at me. I make a gesture to say "It's okay", as the Telethia flies off.

"That thing saved us. Whatever it was," Dunban says to Shulk, as the two of them make walk over to the rest of us.

Dickson and Otharon are engaged in their own conversation, "I thought it was you. Nice to see you, Dickson."

"It's been a while, grandpa. One year if my memory hasn't left me. Good to see that you haven't kicked the bucket."

Otharon laughs at his statement, "Put a sock in it."

Sharla is treating me at this time, but when she heard the names of Dickson and Dunban she also becomes mystified. "Wait… Dickson? Dunban? You're the heroes who risked their lives a year ago, in the battle to defend the colonies."

"Wait, what's a pretty young lady like you hanging around with these bunch? They're all slackers and forgetful."

"Tch, I'm not _that_ forgetful any more, I kind of know what I was back when I used to be in my own world. Only problem is that, I don't know how I got here," I reply. "Anyway, thanks for helping us. I probably wouldn't have survived that ambush without you two."

"I don't believe we did anything," Dunban answers me, with a wry smile.

"He's right. Save your thanks for that giant bird," Dickson adds to Dunban's comment.

"What was that thing?" Shulk inquires.

"A Telethia," I have a quizzical look on my face when Dickson says this, "It is a mystical beast that protects the sleeping Bionis. Though, I've never heard of one ever venturing down to where us Homs live. It's strange."

"A mystical beast that protects the Bionis," Shulk repeats.

"So, what's your plan from here? Follow that metal-faced Mechon, I presume," Dunban questions Shulk.

"What else? He's gonna pay for what he did to Fiora," Reyn replies.

"Well then. There's only one place he'd go; Galahad Fortress in Sword Valley. A year ago, those things were building a huge fortress, right in the valley. Tactically, it's an excellent location to launch attacks from, and I feel there's a strong chance that they have finished building it, which is why both colonies were attacked so recently," Dunban surmises.

"So it's settled. Bash down a fortress, and smash some metal brains!" Reyn repeats, excitedly.

"Easy, Reyn," Shulk says, half-laughing. "There's somewhere I need to go first."

"Yeah, to Colony 9. This leg will take a week to heal," I grumble, annoyed at my carelessness.

"Actually, that's a good idea," Sharla buts in, Otharon looking quizzical. "I mean, if we go to Colony 9, we can pass by the Refugee Camp, do their last chores, and search for items that we need in the restoration."

"Oh, yes, I forgot about the Colony. There're a lot of things to do," Otharon adds.

"Anyway, where is the vision? We can go there in a week, as if there's one thing I know, it's revenge can always wait," I say.

"Visions? What're you on about?" Dickson asks.

We explain the visions to Dickson, and he narrows his eyes at the mention of me having visions too.

"That's interesting, you can see different things than Shulk?"

"Yes, or most of the time it's different. Sometimes it is the same, for example we both saw Juju being took," I reply.

"Hmm. So, what did you see, Augustine?"

"I saw the Horn of the Bionis, and three Mechon, though one was smaller than the others."

"And you, Shulk?"

"Somewhere very high up. We were fighting at the peak of a huge tower. Fighting Metal Face. I heard a voice, and then the Monado's power was released. His armour instantly gave way. The Monado doesn't work on Metal Face at the moment, but if that vision comes true…"

"Yes, it sounds like a place I've visited. A horn means that it is at the top, so that means Prison Island. A very long walk, if you ask me, you should head back to Colony 9 for a few days."

"Good idea, Dickson," Dunban says, as we depart off for Colony 9.

 **(A/N): How do you like the decision to do Colony 6 Reconstruction early? I did this because I thought that travel times in the game were** _ **extremely**_ **understated, so I think it would make sense for them to go back, especially with me being injured. Also, Colony 9 has a lot of those Reconstruction things…**


	11. Chapter 11: Charge!

Chapter XI: Charge!

 _Interesting_ , I think as I go out of the cave after some days of resting due to my injury and I see a man testing one of the hovercraft. It lifts out of the water, and then the engine promptly dies as I hear shouting from a man. _Well, looks like Otharon doesn't want a scouting party,_ I snidely think as I chortle at the flying.

"Ah, look who's up," I hear a voice say, and look to my right with Dunban smiling. "Hope your leg's all right, Sharla said that it should be okay by now." He walks and then sits down on one of the boxes, and sips some water from a canteen. "We've been doing a lot of requests, especially with animal hunting."

"Interesting, I wonder which animals you guys are hunting today."

"None, as we have a particularly hard assignment today. We need all the bodies we can get," Dunban replies as I quirk my eyebrows. "We, again, have to cull the numbers of the Tirkins. They've nearly killed one of the members of the camp, so we're to go kill them. The only problem is that, the last time you, Sharla and Shulk went there, their full force wasn't there."

"Interesting, do we have backup?"

Dunban's eyes peak up and smiles at me, "You, Otharon and the old man."

"Okay then, let's go!"

I walk out of the cave, take my rapier near the opening, and then string my bow up too. I go outside and then realize how much I missed being out on the open road. I take a few practice swipes, parrying parallel to the ground, and then practising the other ones, grimacing at how out of practise I am. _Ugh, I don't want to do this, tirkin have spears and bows, both weapons that the sword doesn't traditionally hold up against. Then again, I have Shulk and the visions on my side._ I walk to the edge of the canyon, where the group has assembled, the smell of grass surrounding me, although permeated with tobacco, as Dickson is smoking.

"Good morning ya arse-wipe," Dickson drawls, while I laugh.

"Hello to you… oh no, I can't come up with an interesting comeback."

The rest of the group laughs, while Dickson shakes my hand.

"Why haven't I seen you, Otharon, or Sharla, in the caves for the past few days? I've seen Dunban, Reyn, and Shulk around, but not you," I inquire.

"Well, we've been doing errands for the past few days. I mean, Shulk told us about how he had a vision that a child would drown if he didn't interfere, and he said that it was the most uninteresting of his missions."

"Can't wait to talk to him," I reply, smiling.

"Oy, Augustine! Are ya well enough?" a known voice shouts across, and I chortle, and look at Reyn.

"Well, from looking at the way he walks, I think he's okay. He had the required days of rest that one needs," Sharla replies, smiling at me.

"Well, now that we're gathered up, what's the plan?" I ask, gaining the attention of the group, and sit down on the ground, leaning on a tree.

"So, there is one entrance, and one exit, into Tirkin HQ. It is one extremely small path that could easily function as a choke-point," Dunban says, drawing a picture on the ground with his sword. "Now, what we need to do, is either draw them out, or destroy them inside the cave. You, Sharla and Otharon will be great for that job, as you three will goad them out with the sounds of your rifles-"

"Excuse me, but can't we use the Monado to collapse the path, and then not do anything else, as they can't get outside?" I ask, much to the chagrin of everyone else.

"Interesting idea, but what we also need to get food, and what better way to get food than hunting some of these animals?" Reyn replies, unexpectedly.

"If you guys really want to hunt and get plunder…" I add.

"So, are we ready to move out?" Sharla asks, loading her rifle.

"All forces, move out!" Otharon commands, pointing at Tirkin HQ as we jog towards Tirkin HQ, passing by the waterfalls near the entrance of Gaur Plain, the waterfalls roaring as we pass them by, the warmth of the sun illuminating our faces as the noon-day sun rises. I sigh, trying to recall the place where I came from, and trying to recall whether or not this place was as beautiful as this.

"Are there any other places as beautiful as this here?" I ask.

"Well, you're in for a treat, as after we do this and bring the people back to Colony 6, I'll show you something beautiful," Dickson replies, smirking. "I'll probably not go on after that, but…"

"That's too bad, you don't want to come and destroy some Mechon?" Reyn replies, his tongue clicking.

"Why not?" I ask, perceiving something up, but not able to place what is happening.

"Someone needs to train the Defence Forces of Colony 6, and 9," Otharon buts in. "I probably am not coming too, as I need to supervise the rebuilding."

We pass by the Guidepost a few hours later, getting into battle formation, with the rifle users in the back, Dunban and Reyn taking point, with Shulk taking up the middle. Dunban signals for the chatter to get quiet, and we slink to the sides.

I see a two guards at the gate, where I knock an arrow, and then fire, missing my target.

"Crap!" I whisper, annoyed as the arrow lands behind my target, hitting the rock. "Sharla, take the second shot!"

A crack goes through the air, and the tirkin goes down, another shot rings out, from Otharon's rifle which takes out the second tirkin. We creep closer to the door, and another crack flies, as Sharla fires again. I nock another arrow, and fire at some of the tirkin in the pathway, but all of us gasp in horror at the sight at least twenty tirkin blocking our way.

"Take formation!" Dunban shouts, as we struggle and I let fly an arrow, while the rifle users fire more shots, taking down some tirkin. A blue blade shoots up, and I hear the screeching of three tirkin, as they are bisected, the Monado easily cutting through them.

"Stream edge!" Shulk shouts, cutting down another one, while Dunban deftly dodges another one of the spears, and then cuts its head off, killing it instantly. One of them breaks through the line and tries to kill Reyn, but I extend, the rapier cutting through easily.

"Reyn, you alright?!" I ask, as he spins around. "I'll switch out of your position, take up the rear!"

"Aye!"

I take point, and immediately I see an arrow flying towards me, and I dodge it, as it grazes my cheek. Shulk heals me, while simultaneously slashing one of the tirkin. I parry one of their spears, and then riposte, getting one of the tirkin. I see Dunban use an ether attack on a group, clearing out the rest of the tirkin.

"We're clear!" I shout. "Move out!"

I charge forward, switching weapons again, shooting another arrow into a tirkin who tried to extend their spear into me. We then go into the clearing of Tirkin HQ, and then get into our own individual battles.

"Watch out for Vagrant Alfead," Otharon warns me, as I hear a "Monado… Buster!" from Shulk.

I keep running forward. But then, a rather large tirkin comes around brandishing its spear. Like the rest of the tirkin, it has red tail feathers, the colour of Shulk's Monado, unlike the rest of the tirkin, though, it is a head taller than I am and has an ear-splitting shriek which thankfully didn't catch us in the cave.

"Argh!" I shout, "SHUT UP!"

"Stay calm, stay focused," Dunban says to himself, while I grit my teeth, and think _how does he do that?_

Apparently invigorated, Dunban charges up and slashes through a tirkin right in front, and continues to run.

We get to the platform, where we see some of the clothes strung out.

"Ca-caw!" I hear from the right, as I suddenly get a vision where a rather large tirkin stuns me and then runs me through with its spear.

 _That won't happen as long as I have anything to do with it!_ I draw myself up into a fencer's en garde, and while it tries to stun me with a flap of its wings, I raise my sword up, flick my wrist left, and then turn, executing a perfect counter-attack right to its abdomen.

 _Bingo_. "Guys a little help here!"

"You're fighting Alfead on your own?!" Shulk says, his eyes widening.

"Well, you guys aren't giving me much of a choice!" I reply.

Shulk finishes off his tirkin, and runs, giving himself Monado Speed and does a stream edge from behind, cutting off Alfead's limbs. I look at him and acknowledge thanks.

"Impressive," Otharon remarks. "I have to ask though, how come the Monado can't cut through wood? It can cut through Mechon armour easily enough, although it can't cut through the spears that the Tirkin use."

"Well, it can. Although, it more like heats up the wood and then only when it is weakened enough, it can cut through," Shulk replies.

"Wish it could, it'd look pretty cool," Reyn remarks.

"Agreed," I reply. "Although, I would love to see myself practising against it, which can't happen if that is true."

"Anyway, while holding up Alfead was impressive, it was incredibly reckless," Dunban says in dulcet tones.

"Heh, the man who's talking destroyed a Mechon Fortress Unit by himself!" Dickson jumps in.

"Oh, how is the injury holding up?" Otharon asks. "I remember you convulsing after using the Monado to destroy that… thing"

"I don't use the Monado any more, so I have gotten better," he replies.

"So, want to go back?" I ask. "By the way, since I am healed now, Dunban, would you care to spar with me later?"

"As I've told Shulk when he was younger, practise makes perfect. I will be glad to," he replies.

"Shulk, referee please," I say, as he and Reyn stand by the cave, with the entirety of the Camp watching the two of us too. _Well, if I lose, this will suck._

"Ready," Shulk says. "Begin!"

Dunban charges with a Gale Slash, and I parry his blade, and then riposte.

"Halt!" Shulk shouts. "Augustine has won!"

"Wait. We need to test some… other skills." Dunban replies, as he cocks his body and then goes back into his guard position; his left hand in front of his left foot and making an interesting mirror of my form.

 _What is he going to do? Will he try to mirror my skills?_ My knees bend lower. The only thing to be heard is wind, whipping through the grass as tension rises.

"Start!" Shulk says, and I move slightly forward. I extend, and test his guard. _Interesting, he's more of an arm than a wrist guy. Then again, if I had to relearn how to fence-._ Dunban goes and slashes with his blade, and I parry/riposte, but he foresees that and gets into my guard. Startled, I retreat, and swat away at his blade but he easily circumvents it and then levels the blade at my neck.

"One all," Dunban replies, with only the slightest hint of satisfaction at his voice.

"Let's do best out of three," I reply, my breath slightly quickening.

"Only one more?"

"Yes."

We get back to starting positions as a collective hush falls before everyone. I bend my knees into an en garde, while Dunban goes into his ready stance. Shulk sets us apart even farther than before. _Good, we are going into something that resembles real f_ _oil_ _fencing._

"Start!" Shulk shouts.

Immediately, the two of us advance towards the middle. _Control, Augustine, control his blade_. I immediately feint, and he takes it. I lunge and he back pedals. _Good,_ _now I have control._ I advance and he retreats as I extend my arm forward a slight bit. Suddenly he launches himself at me, poised to strike at the midsection, but I position my blade perpendicular to the ground, then riposte.

Dunban ceases his attack immediately, and with superhumanly turns his body, and seemingly stopping the force of momentum, retreats again. My eyes widen at this feat and I quickly back off. Dunban renews his attack, opening with a wide slash, which I parry as I am forced back because of the power of the blows. With his slashing, I bring my blade up, trapping his and then slide it down, stopping near his neck.

The entire crowd breaks out into applause, as the two of us then walk away, and I salute him. He bows with a slight flourish.

"I think we can conclude that you are 100% healed from your battle a week ago," Dunban says with a wry smile on his lips.

"Well, have you guys gotten the necessary materials from Colony 9 since my injury?"

"Yes, we can now go to Satorl Marsh."

 **(A/N): Sorry for the long update, I had to do some examinations and some tests. Also, I had a problem thinking on what I should do in this chapter, as I thought a quest centred chapter would be way too boring, especially with fetch quests and the like. I believe that something like King Agni's or the Spider and Giants quests would be a lot better. Thanks!**


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